And Then The World Changed
by heidipoo
Summary: Sarah was only twelve years old when the zombie apocalypse started and when she lost her mother. What exactly happened at William Carver's camp? How did she and Carlos end up in that cabin in the woods? This is their story.
1. In The Beginning

**Author's Note: I've had this idea in my head for awhile now, so I hope you all like it. This story is going to mainly follow Sarah and Carlos because I love their relationship so much. I'm also still taking requests, so be sure to shoot me a PM. But, be sure to review and all that junk, and check out my author's page for more cool stuff. Enjoy.**

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"Did you have a good day at school, Sarah?" Carlos asks as he holds his twelve year old daughter's hand while they cross the busy city street. Sarah was only in middle school at the time, and she loved school very much, even though sometimes it would get a bit overwhelming with her anxiety issues and what not.

The day was coming to an end, sun high in the sky, and Carlos had just finished another long day working at the hospital. He picked Sarah up from school everyday. They were going to go home, relax, and eat a nice dinner that Sarah's mom, Robin, prepared. It was a Friday, so Sarah would be able to stay up late tonight for the weekend. She and her dad would stay up and play games down in the family room until Sarah fell asleep and her dad would have to carry her off to bed.

"I did." Sarah nodded as they finally reached Carlos' car. She was finally old enough to sit in the front seat and ride shotgun, as her dad had told her, so she did. She loved sitting in the front, it made her feel tall, and she could see everyone that was walking down the street.

"That's good." Carlos replied as he put his keys in the ignition and started the car. "Put your seatbelt on." He ordered as he too did the same. Once they were all set, he began driving home. Carlos, Sarah, and Robin lived in a rather nice home in the suburbs located in a big city. That was the perks of Carlos being a doctor. In Carlos' mind, things for his family couldn't get any better, they were living the perfect life.

"Hey dad?" Sarah broke the silence as he drove.

"Yeah sweetie?" He asked, briefly looking down at Sarah, then back to the road.

"Do you think we could have movie night tonight?" She asked pleadingly, her dark doe eyes looking up at her dad. She had Carlos' eyes, that was for sure. "I wanted to watch the one about the mermaid again." Carlos chuckled, they had both seen that movie at least six times now. She wanted to watch it every weekend.

"Sure." He nodded with a small smile. "Whatever you want." The drove in silence for the rest of the way home, and when they arrived to their neighborhood, a bunch of kids were playing outside since it was so nice out. Sarah though, would rather spend time with her dad. She had always been a daddy's girl, even when she was a baby, that was what her mother had always told her. They both stepped out of the car, Carlos carrying his daughter's backpack, and they made their way into the house.

"There's my two favorite people!" Sarah's mom, Robin, greeted. She was a hispanic woman as well, dark hair, and dark eyes, and Sarah took after her mom a lot. They looked just like each other. Sarah hugged her mom, and kissed her on the cheek, while Carlos was hanging up her book bag on the hook by the door. "Why don't you go change out of your school clothes, Sarah. Dinner's almost done." She said and Sarah nodded, and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Something smells good." Carlos commented as he approached his wife.

"I made your favorite." Robin replied with a smile, letting herself melt in her husband's embrace. He then reached down to rub her protruding stomach. At five and a half months pregnant, she wasn't that big yet, but her baby bump was still fairly noticeable. They were having a boy, just like Carlos wanted, and Sarah was so excited to be a big sister.

"How's the baby?" Carlos asked as he went to go wash his hands and help his wife set the table for dinner.

"He's been kicking a lot." Robin replied. "At least he's healthy." She added with a shrug as she began setting plates on the kitchen table for herself, Carlos, and Sarah. "How was work today?" She asked Carlos.

"Kind of slow." He admitted. Suddenly, Sarah came bounding down the stairs dressed in her play clothes and ready to eat dinner. She knew her mom and her dad loved each other very much, and she loved them a lot too. "Ready for dinner?" Carlos asked as he watched Sarah sit down at her spot at the table.

She nodded, "I'm starving."

Robin began dishing the food out onto each of their plates. She was quite the cook, always making homemade recipes and whatnot. "Maybe after dinner we can have ice cream for dessert." She suggested with a smile.

"Strawberry?" Sarah asked, and her mom nodded. Robin and Carlos had used to question Sarah's childish behavior, after all, she was twelve and she acted like she was eight. But with Carlos being a doctor, he had found that there was nothing wrong with Sarah, and if it was a mental thing, they didn't mind. They liked the fact that she had a childish wonder about things with her, and Carlos loved his little girl, and never wanted to lose her. "Dinner looks so good mom..." Sarah trailed off and began digging into her food.

"Sarah..." Her mom scolded. "You know we have to say grace first."

"Oh, I forgot." Sarah said sheepishly and put down her fork. She then joined hands with her father and mother, and bowed her head.

"Carlos, would you like to?" Robin asked and he nodded.

"Heavenly father, we thank you for this food we are about to consume. May it nourish our bodies, and give us strength. Amen." He finished. "Now, you can eat Sarah." He said. Carlos wasn't really that religious, but his wife was, so he did it for her sake. Sarah began eating, and so did everyone else.

"Oh, mom! Guess what!" Sarah exclaimed, looking up from her plate.

"What honey?" Robin asked with a small smile.

"Dad said we can watch the mermaid movie tonight!" She said excitedly, and her mother couldn't help but to laugh.

"That one's your favorite, huh?" She asked, and Sarah nodded with much fever.

"Alright, eat your dinner Sarah." Carlos chided, and she obliged.

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**Author's Note: To be continued...?**


	2. Mommy?

After dinner was over, Sarah was more than excited to get some ice cream. Her mom and dad told her she had to wait though, until her food settled before she ate anymore, or else she would get sick. It was dark now, Sarah had been playing with her dolls in the living room, waiting until her dad wanted to watch the mermaid movie with her. Her mother then came back down the stairs from bathing, "Okay, who wants ice cream?" She asked with a smile.

Sarah jumped up, "I do!"

Robin laughed, "Okay, go upstairs and ask your dad if he wants some." Her mom ordered. Sarah gave a quick nod, then began to run upstairs to her parents' room. Her dad was lying on the bed, reading some medical book.

"Dad!" She said with a smile, "Mom said the ice cream is ready!"

Carlos chuckled, "Okay sweetie, I'll be down in a second." He replied, and Sarah nodded again, the ran back down the stairs. She knew she wasn't allowed to run in the house, but she couldn't help it, she was so excited. Her parents never let her have sweets at night. She wondered why they were making an exception this time.

"He's coming." Sarah said once she was back down in the kitchen with her pregnant mother.

"You wanted strawberry, right?" Robin asked, looking back at her daughter.

"Yes!" Sarah exclaimed, "That's my favorite!"

Robin laughed, "Okay." She smiled and began dipping the ice cream into a bowl for Sarah. Soon, Carlos made his way down the stairs, and he smiled at his daughter. God, he really loved Sarah so much. She was such a daddy's girl, and he would always look after her and protect her. She was his whole life.

"I want chocolate." He said as he sat down at the kitchen table. Sarah then went to sit down beside him.

"Is that your favorite?" Sarah asked.

Carlos nodded, "And vanilla is your mom's favorite."

"Sure is." Robin agreed as she sat down two bowls full of ice cream in front of her daughter and husband. "Eat up."

"Mom, do we have any chocolate syrup?" Sarah asked.

"I think so, but the ice cream is enough sweet stuff for you." Her mother chided.

"Oh, come on please?" Sarah begged, "Just this once?" She asked.

"Let her have it Robin." Carlos said, after all, he always gave Sarah everything she wanted. He practically spoiled her, maybe that was why she was such a daddy's girl in the first place.

"Okay, but just this once." Robin said and reached up into the cabinets to get the bottle of chocolate syrup. The whole family then enjoyed their ice cream together, and once they were all done, they sat on the couch and watched the mermaid movie with Sarah for the umpteenth time in a row. Things seemed to be going pretty well, and it was another perfect night for the little family.

But to Carlos, something wasn't right. The night was too eerily quiet, and he didn't trust it, he knew something was up. And suddenly, the mermaid movie cut off, and an emergency broadcast flashed across the screen. Something about a level ten emergency in the city, and that everyone should stay inside. It sounded pretty dangerous, and nothing like this had ever happened before.

"Honey, go lock the doors and window..." Carlos said to his wife as he stood up and turned the light on.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Sarah asked, starting to panic a bit.

"Nothing important." Carlos tried to get her mind off of it, but it didn't seem to be working. Her anxiety was kicking in, and once it started, there was no way to stop it.

"But that man on the TV..." Sarah trailed off, looking more confused.

"What should we do Carlos?" Robin asked as she went around locking the windows and the front door. Carlos wasn't sure what to do though, after all, nothing like this had ever happened before. "Oh my god!" Robin exclaimed as she looked through the window. "There's someone outside our house!"

"Get away from the window Robin!" Carlos warned, but it was far too late. Something, or some one rather, had grabbed Sarah's mom through the window, busting the glass and all. "Robin!" Carlos yelled, running towards his wife, attempting to save her. "Stay back Sarah!" He ordered. The thing that was grabbing his wife, he had never seen in his life. It looked like a zombie, but he knew that it couldn't be possible. There was no such thing as zombies, not in this life, not in any life. What the hell was happening?

"Carlos!" She yelled as the zombie still had its arms wrapped around the woman. He grabbed the first thing he could think of, which was a frying pan, and began to bash the thing that was attacking his wife. Once she was freed from the zombie's grasp, they collapsed on the floor. Sarah watched in horror as her parents lay clutching each other.

"Mommy?" She asked as she stepped closer and closer to them.

"Mommy's fine Sarah..." Carlos said as he held Robin in his arms. But he knew she wasn't, there was a bite mark on her neck, and he wasn't sure what was going to happen next. Would she die? "Stay back." He ordered Sarah again, and she took a few steps backwards. "Robin?" He then questioned, shaking his wife. She seemed to be unconscious. And what about the baby? There was no way that the baby would survive if Robin was dead.

"Mom?" Sarah questioned, peeking over the couch, to see her parents. That was when Carlos realized that Robin wasn't breathing anymore, and she was really gone. He stood up, walking over to his daughter. He then took the smaller girl in his arms.

"Go upstairs and pack your things Sarah... We've got to go." He ordered.

"But what about mom?"

"Just go!" He nearly yelled and she ran up the stairs to get some of her stuff. And while she was upstairs, Carlos took the time to smash his wife's head in, just to make sure she wouldn't turn into one of those things. He knew now that he had to protect his baby girl, no matter what.


	3. Out Of The City

"I got my stuff dad!" Sarah said as she ran back down the stairs with a small backpack on her back. Carlos hoped that she had grabbed some clothes and some other stuff that she might need. The little girl was scared, there was no doubting that. She had no idea what was going on around her, and she had just lost her mom, and her baby brother all in one moment. Their perfect life had been flipped upside down so fast.

"Okay." Carlos said with a nod, and grabbed the car keys that were hanging on the hook by the door. "We're going to leave now." He said, bending down so that he was the same height as his daughter. "It's not safe here, do you understand?" He asked, and Sarah nodded in return. Carlos wasn't really sure what he was supposed to tell his daughter. He didn't want her to be so exposed to this stuff already, not even when he didn't know what it was yet either.

"What about mom?" The almost teen girl asked curiously. In that moment, Carlos mentally kicked himself. What the hell was he supposed to tell Sarah? He couldn't just out right tell her that her mother was dead. Wracking his mind for something, anything, he had to tell his daughter something.

"Mom is sick, and she can't come with us. She told me to take you and get out of here." He said, looking into Sarah's dark eyes, the same eyes that matched his own. Her eyes widened at what her dad was saying, and she held her head down in sadness, finally understanding what her dad was implying. Her mother wasn't going with them.

"So she's staying here?" Sarah asked.

Carlos nodded, "I have to keep you safe."

"Okay." Sarah said.

"Are you ready to leave?" He asked and she nodded. "Okay, let's go." He walked in front of his daughter, and opened the front door just a crack, making sure the coast was clear to get to the car. He didn't want to leave his home, but they had no choice, he had to keep Sarah safe. And staying here wasn't the right choice, they'd be eaten alive within days. They had to get out of the city, and to somewhere open. It didn't seem like it, but Carlos had watched plenty enough zombie movies to know what he was doing, plus, he was a doctor, so that was always a perk. Once he established that the coast was clear, he grabbed Sarah's hand, and they made a run for it.

"Can I sit up front?" Sarah asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure honey." Carlos said, pushing Sarah into the front seat, and rushing over to the driver's side. Once he was in the car, he was finally able to look around at the neighborhood and see what was going on. It was your typical riot like scene, except people were eating each other, and there was blood everywhere. Carlos started the car, and turned on the radio, trying to find some kind of music to distract Sarah, but there was nothing but emergency broadcasts about how bad the city was.

"I brought my kids bop CD..." She said shyly, reaching into her book bag.

"That'll do just fine." Carlos said as he put the CD in and music began playing. He then switched gears, and began driving down the road and out of this big city. A few moments of silence passed, Sarah too busy listening to her music to pay attention to anything, but Carlos was horrified at what he was seeing. The city was literally falling apart. Roads were closed, people were shooting each other... He had to get Sarah away from all of this.

"Where are we going daddy?" Sarah asked, finally breaking the silence between the two.

"Somewhere safe." Carlos answered.

"Is it far away?" She asked.

"I don't know sweetie." He answered honestly.

"Are there going to be other kids there?" She kept bombarding him with so many questions, and if Carlos was being honest with himself, he really didn't know how to answer all of them. He hated lying to his daughter and making up excuses, but he wanted her to stay protected, innocent, and most of all, safe. He didn't want anything to happen to her. And he'd make sure of that, over his dead body.

They drove for a couple of hours, Carlos not really wanting to stop the car any time soon. He didn't have a clue where they were at, but he didn't care. As long as they were away from those things, or zombies rather, he'd be okay. He then looked down at Sarah who was curled up in the front seat sleeping soundly. He was glad that she was able to go to sleep in all this havoc, but after all, she was probably tired. It had been a long day for all of them. Replaying the events over in his head, Carlos wasn't sure what he and Sarah were going to do now. Find other survivors? Carry on alone? He didn't know for sure.

A deep sigh escaped his lips, and now that he was alone, he finally wept over his wife. Why did Robin have to be the first to go? That should have been him locking the windows, and such. But now, because of his mistake, his wife and unborn son were gone, and he couldn't help but to blame himself for all of it; all of this even. What would become of the world? What would become of him and Sarah? Their fate was unknown as he kept driving away from the city. Hopefully they'd find refuge somewhere soon, because he was exhausted. Carlos looked down at his sleeping daughter once more, and he felt better. He was just glad that she was still with him and hadn't been hurt. He'd do everything in his power to keep her safe, even if that meant killing someone.


	4. Helping

It was nearly morning, and Carlos and Sarah had driven all night. He was exhausted to say the least, and they still hadn't found a safe place to stay. They were in the middle of nowhere, driving down a lone road as the sun started to rise in the sky. Sarah's kids bop CD restarted for about the twentieth time, and Carlos was worried. They had no food, no supplies, only what Sarah had packed in her bag, they had no plan, no destination. Everything was going to hell.

They were far out of the city now, but that still didn't mean that they had a place to go. Carlos had no relatives or family in the area. And they couldn't stay in the car? Could they? But once they ran out of gas they were screwed. Thinking about the gas, Carlos' eyes drifted down to the gas meter and he sighed in relief once he saw that they still had half a tank left. So they'd be able to get somewhere with it, but where?

Suddenly, Sarah began to stir... "Daddy?" She questioned, waking up out of her sleep.

"I'm here sweetie." Carlos answered, placing a hand on the top of his daughter's head.

"Where are we?" She asked, sitting up in the seat and remembering the events from yesterday. Her mom was gone, her baby brother was gone, their house was gone, and now they had nothing. They were getting away from the monsters, at least that's what her dad told her. He told her that they were going to be safe now.

"I don't know." Carlos answered honestly as he looked out the window. There was nothing but land, trees, and dirt. He wished they had a map so they knew what direction they were going, but they left the house in such a hurry that he forgot that they would need food and supplies.

"Oh." She replied thoughtfully.

"Are you okay?" Carlos asked, not really sure on what kind of answer that he would get from his daughter. It was a general question, sure, but with everything that was going on around them it could mean literally anything. Because things were not okay, and he was sure that Sarah wasn't okay either.

She shrugged, "I guess." But still, she had no idea that the world was falling to pieces around them, that people were dying and eating each other. "I am a little hungry though." She said shortly after. "Can we go to McDonald's?" She asked, looking at her dad with big doe eyes.

"McDonald's is closed." Carlos replied a little too quickly. "But we'll find food soon sweetie." Sarah nodded respectfully, not really knowing if her father was telling the truth or not. Any other time she asked for fast food, she got it. What made this time so different? Carlos sighed, he hated lying to his daughter, but he figured this would be best. He didn't want her to be exposed, he only wanted her to stay safe. But what would happen if she saw something on accident? Carlos knew he couldn't shield her from everything.

"Dad, look!" Sarah said, pointing further up the road, and pulling Carlos out of his thoughts. "There's people!" Carlos looked to where she was pointing, and sure enough there was a car, and an elderly couple standing beside it. They looked worse than most people. "They probably need help." Sarah noted as her dad continued to drive.

"Sarah, honey, we can't stop." Carlos said. After all, he didn't know these people, they could be thieves or bandits, or murderers for all that matter. Albeit they were an elderly couple, Carlos knew that you should never judge somebody on their appearance.

"Why not?" Sarah demanded to know.

"They could be dangerous." He replied.

"But they're old! And they need help! Look, they're waving at us." She said and pointed again. "Please dad, we have to help them." She begged as their car came closer to the elderly couple. Carlos contemplated what he should do... Should he stop? Or drive by them? He had to make a decision fast because they were right there. "Dad..." Sarah drawled out, and he finally pulled over on the side of the road to help the older couple.

"Oh bless your heart for stopping." The old woman said as she approached the car.

"Sarah, stay here." Carlos ordered as he got out to talk to the couple. She nodded and stayed in her place. Carlos then got out of the car and walked to where the old woman and man were standing. "Are you guys okay?" Carlos asked them, taking the time to look over them. They didn't look dangerous, but you never knew with the apocalypse.

"I'm Shirley, and this is my husband Gerald." She introduced themselves.

"I'm Carlos." He replied, "And I've got a little girl named Sarah."

"It's so nice to meet you." Shirley said with a small smile. While she was talking, Carlos took the time to get a good look at Gerald, and he didn't look so good. "We headed out of the city when all of this nonsense started, and I'm afraid we've run out of gas. My husband is very ill, so we can't walk." She explained. "Would it be too much to ask for a lift?" Shirley asked, and Carlos honestly didn't know how to answer.

"Well, I don't really have a destination." He said.

"Oh, that's all right." Shirley waved off. "We're just trying to get away from those things."

"I'll ask my daughter if you can come." Carlos said, after all, it was Sarah's big idea to stop and help these people.

"Thank you so much." Shirley replied.

Carlos then headed back to his car where Sarah was still sitting in the front seat. "What did they say?" She asked excitedly.

"They want to come with us, they ran out of gas." Carlos explained. "Do you want them to come with us? It's up to you."

"If they need help, then of course daddy, they can come." She replied with a smile.

"Okay." Carlos nodded.


	5. Dangerous Encounters

"My daughter said you can come." Carlos said as he walked back over to where Shirley and Gerald were standing. "But, we don't have any supplies of anything like that, so I cannot help you anymore than giving you a ride." He explained, feeling a little bad that he had nothing else to offer these sick people.

"My husband and I have a couple of cans of food but that's about it." Shirley replied.

"Also," Carlos started. "My daughter, Sarah, she's only twelve... She's different, and she doesn't really understand what's happening. So if you could, please don't talk about things." He begged, still not wanting his daughter to be exposed to this kind of stuff. "It's just... I feel like she's too young to know."

"Of course." Shirley nodded respectfully.

"Okay." Carlos said. "Then let's go." He then led the elderly couple to the car, and helped them into the back seat. Once everyone was situated, Carlos got in the driver's seat and started the car back up. "Sarah, this is Shirley and Gerald." He introduced them all.

"Hi." She said shyly. Shirley waved back, but other than that, there was no real conversation between them. Carlos put the kids bop CD on for the umpteenth time, and they just drove. Nothing in sight except for very large fields. At least they were out of the city, that was the only thing right now that Carlos was thankful for, well that, and his daughter. "Dad, I'm bored..." Sarah sighed, looking out the window. He knew this would happen, Sarah got bored easily. That was why someone had to entertain her most of the time.

"I can't help that honey." Carlos said as he continued to drive.

"Dad..." She whined.

"Didn't you bring some of your toys? Or books?" He asked, looking down at her backpack of things that sat in the floor of the car. It looked to be pretty full, so what the hell did she have in there?

She shook her head, "No..."

"Then what did you pack?" Carlos asked.

"Clothes." She said quietly, and Carlos sighed. "Can we play a game?" She asked.

"Sarah, I'm driving."

"Please?" She begged.

"I like games." Shirley said from the backseat, which was really the first time she'd spoken since the car ride began. Carlos looked back in the rear view mirror, and noticed that her husband was sleeping. He looked really sick, and as if he couldn't even move. "I'll play with you." She offered.

"Is that okay dad?" Sarah asked, and Carlos merely nodded. "Okay! Let's play I spy! You go first." She said as she turned in the front seat to look at Shirley.

"I spy... Something red." Shirley said playfully and Carlos sighed again. Now he was going to have to listen to this for god knows how many hours. Oh well, at least Sarah was occupied, and that was something to take her mind off of things for a while. It took the teen girl forever to answer as she looked around the car, trying to find something red to see if it would be the right answer, until she finally came up with the answers.

"Oh!" She nearly yelled. "It's my glasses!"

"Yeah! That's right." Shirley replied. "Now you go." They played for about an hour, Carlos could have guessed, until finally Sarah began to grow bored again. I spy never lasted her for that long. Her eyelids began to grow droopy, until finally, she fell asleep in the front seat. It was almost dark, so Carlos figured that she'd be out for a while. "That's a sweet little girl you got." Shirley said to Carlos, breaking the silence.

"I had a son on the way too, but you know..." He replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She sympathized, "I never had any kids of my own. Gerald didn't want any." Speaking of Gerald, Carlos looked into the rear view mirror again and saw that he was still unconscious. This guy really must have been hurt.

"Is he okay?" Carlos asked. "I'm a doctor, I might be able to help."

Shirley shook her head, "I'm letting him sleep it off, he'll be okay."

"What exactly happened?" He asked.

"On our way outta town, we ran into some of those things... Zombies, or whatever you wanna call 'em... And they got him. Just a little nip, but they got him." She explained. "But he'll be okay." Suddenly, Carlos slammed on the breaks in the car. Did she just say what he thought she said. "What the hell?" Shirley nearly yelled.

Carlos turned around in his seat, "You mean to tell me he's bitten?" He tried to keep his voice down so he wouldn't wake up Sarah, but it was almost impossible. He could turn at any given moment, and that was putting him, Sarah, and even Shirley in danger.

"He'll be okay." She tried to defend.

"He will not be okay!" Carlos exclaimed. "He could turn into one of those things at any moment!"

"How do you know?" Shirley asked.

"Because it happened to my wife!" Carlos said, and he got out of the car. "We've got to take care of this." He said, opening the door that Gerald was sitting by, and drug him out of the car so that he was laying on the ground. "We have to kill him before he turns."

"You're not killing my husband!" Shirley yelled, stepping out of the car too.

"We have to! You're putting my daughter and I in danger!" He yelled back.

"You're not killing him!"

"Fine." He said. "Then you do it."

"I'm not killing anyone either." She said, crossing her arms. Suddenly, Gerald's eyes shot open, and in that moment Carlos knew it was too late. He had already turned. His skin was nearly peeling off of him as he stood up, and the smell was unbearable. "See?" Shirley said. "I told you he'd be okay. Isn't that right Gerald?" She then turned towards her husband, and that's when he lunged for her throat.


	6. Finding Food

Gerald tore into Shirley's throat, gnawing away at her flesh. "Help me!" She screamed out, as the two both fell to the ground. Carlos reached into his pocket, and pulled out the small knife he had always carried around in case of emergencies. It was the only weapon on him at the moment, so that would have to work in killing these two. Flipping the knife open, he then drove it into Gerald's skull first, then Shirley's killing them. Their dead bodies lay on the ground, and Carlos felt a sort of remote sadness in him.

That was three that he had killed already. His wife Robin, Gerald, and Shirley. To him, he felt like it would never get easier. His hands felt hot, like he shouldn't have stabbed them. Hell, he shouldn't have even picked them up off the side of the road, but he did do it, for Sarah's sake. With a sigh, the doctor turned to head back to his car, and that was when he saw Sarah looking out the window.

"Dad...?" She questioned, tears budding in her dark doe eyes. She made eye contact with her dad first, then ever so slowly, they drifted to the dead bodies that lay on the side of the road. She didn't know what to say, and Carlos didn't know what to tell her. Maybe it was a sign that he really should tell her about the world, instead of keeping it a secret. Carlos got into the car silently, and just sat there for a moment, contemplating what he had just done. "Dad?" Sarah asked again. "Are you okay? What happened?" She added, and he didn't want to tell her the truth... He felt that she was still too young for it.

"They were bad people." Was all he could manage to get out, "Dangerous. They could have hurt you." He looked over to his daughter who was now listening intently, and she nodded in a somewhat understanding manner. She knew about bad people because her dad told her about them. After all, Carlos was just looking out for her in the long run. He didn't want anything to happen to her, or him either for the time being.

"Did they try to hurt you?" She asked, and Carlos shook his head. "Okay, good." Sarah said.

"We've got to go try and find some food. Are you up for that?" He asked, looking down at his daughter trying to change the subject and get her easily distracted mind off of what just happened.

"Yes!" She replied excitedly. Carlos nodded once again, then started the car. He was going to try and forget about the incident that had just happened, forget that he had just killed two people, and he had blood on his hands at the moment. Food was essential, and Sarah had already complained that she was hungry tons of times. They needed supplies too, just in case something happened.

They drove, still not really sure where their exact location was. Carlos was hoping to find a convenience store, or a gas station, or even a rest stop for all that matter. They just needed something that would hold them over until they got further away from all of this. It was unlikely that they would find any of that though because it looked like they were driving in the middle of nowhere. "Keep your eyes open for any stores, okay Sarah?" He asked, giving Sarah a job to distract her.

"You got it dad!" She exclaimed, and nearly kept her eyes glued to the window.

Carlos drove a little faster, "See anything?" He asked as he continued to drive.

"Nope." She said, "But I'll keep looking!" It seemed like they drove for hours though before they actually found anything useful. But finally, just when all hope was about to be lost, Sarah spotted what looked to be an empty gas station. "Dad, look!" She exclaimed, pointing out the window.

"Good eye Sarah!" Carlos praised as he made his way towards the gas station. He just hoped that it would be empty, because after all, he didn't want to kill anymore of those things than he had to. "There's probably lots of food in there." He noted, "So we're going to need your backpack."

"Okay dad." Sarah nodded, and began emptying out her bag. It was a gas station, in the middle of a highway. It didn't look like anyone had been here, so most of the food and other stuff was probably still inside. "Can I come in with you?" Sarah asked just as her dad was about to get out of the car. That was a situation that he hadn't even thought of. What if a walker or something was inside? He'd have to kill it in front of her... "Please?" She begged, pulling Carlos out of his thoughts.

"Okay, you can come in."

"Yes!"

"But you have to stay behind me, and stay quiet... Okay? Just in case there are bad people in there." Carlos explained. "Do you understand?" He asked, and she gave a solemn nod in understanding. "Okay, let's go." He said, and stepped out of his car. He made sure Sarah got behind him, and he got his knife ready just in case something were to pop out at them. They slowly inched their way into the store, but it literally looked empty.

"I don't see anything daddy." Sarah said.

"I know, just keep your eyes peeled, okay?"

"Okay." They went around filling Sarah's small backpack full of food and the different supplies that you could find at a gas station. This stuff would only last a few days though, then they'd have to hunt for more food and supplies so that they could survive. It wasn't much either, just junk like chips and donuts and stuff like that.

"I wonder if the gas pumps work..." Carlos pondered to himself. If they did, he could fill up his car and they could drive for more time. They began to head back to the car with all their stuff.

"Aren't you going to pay for this stuff daddy?" Sarah asked, looking back at the store as they got into the car.

Now that was something Carlos didn't really think about either, "The store is closing down." He lied. "We're allowed to take what we want." Another lie, but he didn't know what else to tell Sarah.

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

"Yes honey."

"Okay then." She shrugged, and began eating a bag of cheese flavored chips. Carlos pulled the car over to a gas pump to get some gas, and then they were on their way.


	7. Deal

"So..." Carlos started as he and Sarah began to drive again. "I think we should make a deal." He said, looking down at his daughter who was busy munching on a bag of chips. It was beginning to get dark out again, and that would be the end of day three of this nonsense zombie apocalypse.

"A deal?" Sarah asked, looking up at her dad through her glasses.

"Yes, a deal." Carlos replied.

"Okay, let's hear it." Sarah said as she put down her bag of chips.

"I don't think we should pick up anymore strangers..." He trailed off, continuing to drive. "What do you think?" He asked. After all, they didn't want to risk it again. After the incident with Shirley and Gerald, Carlos didn't know if they should pick anyone else up. He knew that groups were better in numbers, but honestly, who could you trust in the apocalypse? And who could he trust to be around his baby girl?

"I think that sounds like a good deal." Sarah answered simply.

"Are you okay?" Carlos asked. "You know, with what happened?"

"It was scary." She admitted. "But I know that you will keep me safe."

"I will." He said. "I will always keep you safe Sarah."

"I'm sorry..." She then said quickly, which caught Carlos off guard.

"Sorry? For what?" He asked, looking down at Sarah again.

"For making you stop and pick up Shirley and Gerald... We should have just kept driving." She said softly. "But I just wanted to help those people... They looked so sick." She explained, a look of distress in her dark eyes.

"It's okay sweetie." Carlos said understandingly. "I wanted to help them too..."

"I just wish they wouldn't have tried to hurt us." Sarah said. "I really liked Shirley."

"They didn't mean to... It's just, things are messed up right now." Carlos replied, unsure of why he had just said that to Sarah. He didn't want her to know about things just yet, or ever for that matter. So why would he be letting information slip out? But he knew why, it was because he didn't want her to be completely in the dark about things, he wanted her to have some kind of knowledge so that she was able to stay safe a little bit. He just hoped that they could find a place to stay soon, that was really safe, so that Sarah wouldn't have to worry her pretty little head about things anymore.

"I'm glad we're safe for now." Sarah said simply.

"Me too honey." Carlos replied.

A yawn then escaped Sarah's lips, "I'm tired." She managed to get out.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep then?" Carlos asked.

"Aren't you tired daddy?" Sarah asked as she curled up in the front seat. Now that she had mentioned it, Carlos was feeling rather sleepy. He hadn't slept since this thing had started, and now it was really starting to dawn on him on how tired he was. "You should get some sleep too." She said, and closed her eyes. He figured that getting some shut eye wouldn't be such a bad idea. All Carlos needed to do was find a safe place to park the car, some place where he and Sarah wouldn't be disturbed by anything. And a place where those walkers wouldn't be able to get to them.

Carlos drove for a little bit longer, Sarah already fast asleep in the passenger seat, and he parked the car on the side of the highway that he was driving on. Once the car was parked, he made sure to roll up the windows and lock the doors so nothing could get to them. A part of him was afraid to fall asleep... What if those things came and got to Sarah while he was out? What if they busted the windows out and bit her?

But he was so tired, he desperately needed the rest if he wanted to continue on like this with Sarah. Maybe finding a group wouldn't be so bad after all, then there would be someone to look after Sarah for a bit while he got some rest. But Carlos was skeptical about any of that. He wouldn't trust anyone with Sarah but him, but maybe that was something that he needed to work on. Carlos needed to learn to trust people, otherwise, how was he ever going to survive this thing? How were he and Sarah going to make it out of this thing alive?

Those were the many thoughts that haunted Carlos since this whole apocalypse thing started, and now they were haunting him even more now that he was laying here in the front seat of his car trying to get some much needed sleep. He was exhausted, there was no doubt about it. So without any further thoughts, he shut his eyes and cleared his mind, and tried so very hard to get to sleep.

Carlos didn't sleep so well. He kept waking up every twenty minutes or so, making sure that there was nobody around them, and making sure that Sarah was still there beside him sleeping. She snored loudly, and he found that quite amusing because she got that from her mother. Another thing that kept Carlos up was the nightmares... Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Robin being bitten, over and over, and the image of him bashing her head in so that she wouldn't turn in front of Sarah. Maybe one day he'd tell her the truth about her mother, but now, she wasn't old enough for that kind of tragedy. Twelve years old was still a child in Carlos' eyes, and he was going to have Sarah stay that way for as long as he could manage.

The next morning when he woke, there was a banging sound on the window. "What the...?" Carlos asked as he sat up in the driver's seat. He was sore as hell from sleeping sitting up, but at least he was well rested.

"Dad... Who is that?" Sarah asked, looking over at Carlos window.

Carlos then looked over at the window too, and that's when he was met with a man's face. "Howdy!"


	8. New Faces

"If you could just roll your window down..." The man outside the car trailed off. He was a young looking caucasian fellow, light brown hair and a slight beard. He had a skinny build too, but looked friendly. "We ain't here to hurt you!" His voice was laced with a slight country accent, but his voice wasn't too deep.

"Who the hell are you?" Carlos demanded.

"Daddy, I'm scared..." Sarah managed to get out, her breathing beginning to pick up because of her anxiety.

"Calm down sweetie... I won't let anything happen to you." He looked over at her and reassured. "Who are you?" He yelled at the window again, he then rolled it down just a tiny bit to let the man know that he was willing to talk to him. After all, they didn't want to come off as hostile, that would only make things worse for he and Sarah.

"The name's Jackson." The new stranger introduced himself. "And back there's Alyssa." He said, pointing back behind him to a blonde headed girl with lots of freckles; she looked pretty young too. Carlos hadn't noticed the girl at first, but now that Jackson had pointed her out, he clearly saw her. "We're friendly..." Jackson trailed off. "And if you could just roll down your window the rest of the way so that we could talk... Well, that'd be great."

Carlos looked over at Sarah, "Should we talk to these people?" He asked her. After all, ultimately it was up to her. If she sad no, then they'd drive right on, and if she said yes, then they'd talk to these people. "They might help us." Carlos trailed off.

"They seem nice..." Sarah answered. "But... We made a deal, no more strangers. Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Carlos said with a sigh.

"You should make sure that they're safe people before we talk to them." Sarah suggested.

"That's a good idea." Carlos nodded. "Do you want me to do it by myself, or do you want come with me?" He asked, feeling like Sarah should be able to be involved in things with him. If she felt like she was making important decisions, it would take her mind off of things going on around her.

"You go, and I'll talk to them once you find out that they're safe." She said with a nod. Carlos then looked back out the window to Jackson and Alyssa who were waiting patiently for him to make up his mind. They looked friendly enough, and they looked like they didn't have any weapons... So maybe they were actually telling the truth. "Good luck daddy." Sarah said with a smile.

"I'm coming out." Carlos said and opened up his door. He had his knife ready just in case these people were going to try something funny. "I'm Carlos." He said, offering his hand to Jackson. "And that's my daughter Sarah." He pointed back to the car where Sarah still sat in the passenger seat. She waved slightly, and shyly.

"Y'all been by yourselves since this started?" Alyssa asked.

Carlos shook his head, "My wife... She didn't make it."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." Jackson commented.

"Hey... You guys aren't bit or anything like that, right?" Carlos asked, making sure that he and Sarah weren't going to deal with another Shirley and Gerald incident. He wanted to insure Sarah's safety from here on out, and protect her no matter.

"Bitten?" Jackson inquired. "Hell no, we was just offering some help."

"Okay, good... It's just, my daughter and I have already been through enough." The hispanic man replied.

"So what's your story?" Alyssa asked, "If you don't mind me asking and whatnot."

Carlos sighed, "Well, it was a pretty normal day. I was spending time with my wife and Sarah, and then that broadcast thing came coming across the TV, and I told my wife to lock the windows. She was bitten, and after that, I knew I had to keep my little girl safe. So we left the city, and I still don't know where we're going." He explained. "She's pretty oblivious to the whole thing." Carlos added, referring to Sarah. "You know, she's a soft hearted girl... I don't know how she'd react if she knew what was going on around her." Another sigh escaped his lips. Why was he pouring his heart out to these strangers?

"That's rough man." Jackson said.

"So what are you two doing out here?" Carlos questioned, changing the subject between the group.

"Alright, this is going to sound a little crazy..." Alyssa trailed off. "But Jackson and me, well, we've been preparing for this."

"Preparing for what?" Carlos asked.

"The apocalypse man!" Jackson explained. "We been waiting for it, and now, here it is."

"We have a house back out in the woods, tons of supplies that we've stocked up over the years, and we just want to help people." Alyssa told Carlos. "We've already got a lady and her boy staying with us, and we have plenty of room for you and your daughter." Carlos had heard of these types of people before, but he didn't think they existed. Now though, it was obvious that they did. "It'd be safe, and y'all could stay there as long as you want."

"I figure it's gonna be awhile before all of this blows over, so you might as well make the most of it." Jackson said.

Just then, Sarah exited the car, and stood beside her father. "Hi." She greeted Alyssa and Jackson shyly. She wasn't so good with meeting new people and all that stuff. "So, are they good or not daddy?" She asked, looking up at Carlos through her long lashes.

"Well aren't you just the cutest thing!" Alyssa nearly squealed. "How old are you sweetie?"

Sarah blushed, "Twelve..."

Carlos bent down to look his daughter right in her eyes. "Listen honey, these people, they seem nice, and they have a house nearby. They said we could stay with them, but we don't have to if you don't want to." He explained to his daughter. "I just want to keep you safe Sarah... So what do you think?"

"And you said they're nice?" She asked doubtfully.

Carlos nodded, "And they have other people at their house."

"Do you wanna go?" Sarah asked unsure.

"It's up to you sweetie."

"Maybe we could stay for a day or two... And try it out..." She suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Carlos nodded. He then turned back to Alyssa and Jackson, "Alright, we'll go."


	9. So This Is Home

Carlos, Sarah, Alyssa, and Jackson then all climbed back into the car so that they could get to the house back in the woods quickly. Carlos just hoped that he wasn't making a big mistake by doing this. All in all, he just wanted safety and stability for his daughter, and hopefully with Jackson and Alyssa's help, they'd be able to establish those things. He didn't want to keep traveling on the road, not knowing where they were going. And even though all of this had only been going on for a few days, it didn't feel like it was going to stop anytime soon, and Carlos needed a place to stay for Sarah. "It ain't too far back." Jackson said, pulling Carlos out of his thoughts.

"What?" Carlos asked, looking back at the man as he drove.

"The house ain't too far away." Jackson repeated. "It's just a little deep in the woods."

"Okay." Carlos nodded and paid attention to the road. In his gut, he had a good feeling about this. They had another kid there, for Sarah to play with... They had food, shelter, and most importantly, they were safe from those things, and Sarah could rest easy knowing that.

Sarah sighed, "So, the other lady at your house... Is she nice too?" She asked Alyssa.

Alyssa nodded, "She is nice. Don't worry hon, you've got nothing to be afraid of."

"I just don't like mean people." Sarah explained.

Alyssa chuckled, "None of us are mean around here."

Sarah smiled back at the young woman, "Okay." They new group then continued to drive until Carlos saw a small house coming up in his vision. It was a very small house, made of wood, but it didn't look like a cabin. It looked quaint and cozy enough though, and big enough for everyone to stay there, and Carlos was more than thankful for that. "Your house is nice." Sarah commented as she took in these new surroundings. Of course, in the back of her mind, she was curious as to why they had to stay with strangers, and she made note of that to ask her dad about it later. They needed to have a serious talk, and soon.

Carlos parked his car and they all got out quickly, looking around to make sure that there were no walkers in sight. "Well, this is our home." Jackson said in a welcoming manner.

"Seems cozy." Carlos replied.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to Nikki and her son." Alyssa said, leading Carlos and Sarah into the house. "And then I'll show y'all where you'll be sleeping." The new group then entered the house, and Carlos was a little surprised as to how clean and nice that it looked. It seemed as if they still had power too, because Nikki and her son were sitting in the living room watching a movie.

"Oh, you're back." Nikki said as she stood up from the couch. She was a very pale woman with black hair, and a round face and body. Sarah thought that she looked friendly. "And I see you've brought some company." She said, looking down at Sarah. "Hi sweetie, what's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Sarah." The teen girl answered shyly.

"I'm Nikki." The new woman introduced herself. "And over there's my son, Trevor. He'll be happy he has someone else to play with." She gestured over to the sofa to where Trevor was sitting. He was of mixed complexion, and had dark brown hair. Sarah didn't know if she'd get along with him or not. "Trevor, come over here and say hi." Nikki ordered, and he got off the sofa. "This is Sarah, and..." She looked over at Carlos.

"Carlos." He answered in reply.

"Hi." Trevor said smiling slightly.

"Sarah, why don't you and Trevor go play?" Carlos suggested.

"Okay daddy." She obliged and the two went over to watch the movie that played on the screen.

"Nice to meet you." Nikki said to Carlos.

"You too." Carlos nodded. "I'm glad Jackson and Alyssa brought us here."

Nikki sighed, "Me too. The world really is going to hell."

"Okay, okay, y'all can talk later." Alyssa interrupted. "I'll show you your room Carlos." She said, and led the hispanic man up the stairs to one of the guest bedrooms. "That's mine and Jackson's room." She said gesturing to one of the doors. "That's Nikki's room, and this will be your room." She stopped in front of a closed door. "I hope you guys really like it here."

"Thank you really." Carlos said. "I will try to be as much of a help as I can."

"Oh, don't worry about that." She waved off. "Jackson and I, we just like helping folks."

"Well thank you anyway." Carlos said again.

"Alright, I'm gonna go get started on dinner." She smiled, and headed back down the stairs with Carlos following behind her. His eyes immediately landed on his daughter, who was sitting cross legged in the floor, watching the movie. Trevor was sitting beside her and he was engrossed in the television as well.

"How old is your girl?" Nikki asked out of nowhere, approaching Carlos on the steps.

"She's twelve." He answered. "And your son?"

"Ten." Nikki sighed. "It's a shame, really, they have to go though all this."

"What do you tell him?" Carlos asked.

"I tell him that there are bad things in the world, and there is nothing you can do about it..." She explained. "And of course he has questions, but what can you tell him?"

"I know that feeling." Carlos sighed.

"Let's just hope this all blows over soon... I had a house here nearby, but we had to leave because of those things." Nikki said. "Jackson said you came from the city, and lost your wife... Must be hard losing folks."

"Yeah, well, I just want to keep Sarah safe." Carlos answered. "What happened to Trevor's dad?"

Nikki laughed, "He's been out of the picture for a while."

"Sorry to hear that." Carlos said.

"Daddy! You've got to come watch this movie!" Sarah almost yelled, getting up and running over to her dad.

"Okay sweetie, I'm coming."


	10. Goodnight

"Dinner's ready!" Jackson called out from the kitchen. Carlos perked up at the sound of his voice realizing how hungry he actually was. He looked out the window of the small house, and saw that it was beginning to get dark. It had to be around eight or so. He then looked down at Sarah who was sleeping soundly in his lap. She must have fallen asleep while watching the movie, but Carlos didn't blame her. She was probably exhausted beyond belief, after all, they'd been staying in a car for almost a week now. He wanted something better for his little girl, not this apocalypse. She should grow up somewhere safe, and hopefully Jackson and Alyssa's home would help with that.

Nikki and Trevor had already made their way into the kitchen, so Carlos figured he'd better wake up Sarah so that they could go eat. He didn't want to keep Jackson and Alyssa waiting after all the stuff they had done for them so far. "Sarah..." He shook her shoulder gently not wanting to startle her by waking her up too violently. She stirred slowly, but still never woke. "Sarah." Carlos tried again. "Come on honey, dinner's ready." He coaxed, which seemed to finally work.

"Dinner?" Sarah questioned, her brown doe eyes opening slowly. "I'm starving!" She nearly yelled, jumping up out of her father's lap and running to the kitchen. Carlos chuckled, he was glad Sarah was able to keep her such high energy even in the worst times. He got up and followed her into the kitchen, because he was really hungry as well. When he entered the small room, the smell of beef stew immediately filled his nostrils and his stomach growled in hunger. The last time he ate was the day that this all began; when his wife made his favorite meal right before she died. A sigh escaped his lips, and he knew he couldn't think about all this right now. He had to show Sarah that he was strong.

Carlos then saw his daughter sitting at the kitchen table beside Trevor. So he decided to sit on the other side of her. Nikki was also sitting at the table, and so was Alyssa. Jackson was getting the bowls of soup ready though. "Man, that soup smells so good!" Trevor said. Once everyone had a bowl of food in front of them, it was time to chow down.

"Thank you for dinner." Carlos thanked Jackson and Alyssa.

"Eat up, 'cause we got plenty!" Alyssa smiled in reply.

"Beef stew is my special recipe." Jackson bragged. "I thought I should make it for y'all since you've decided to stay with us." He said as he took a large bite of the food.

"It tastes really good!" Sarah said.

"Well thank you little lady." Jackson thanked. They ate in some small conversation for the rest of dinner. Just talking about little things, like what everyone liked to do, their jobs, and where they used to live. Carlos thought it would be a good idea to get to know these people a little better since they'd all be staying together for a little while. Everyone seemed really nice, so this might be a good place for him and Sarah to stay for a while until all of this nonsense was over. Or at least until he thought of somewhere else for them to go that was safe.

Carlos looked over and saw Sarah smiling... So at least she was happy for now. That was all he wanted was for her to be happy and safe. He'd stay strong, and together they'd be able to make it through anything together. He was still sad after losing Robin, and Sarah probably was too. But he couldn't let it show. He had to show her that everything was okay, that losing people was normal, and that he didn't want her to be sad about it.

"Dinner was great." Nikki said as she pushed her empty bowl away from her. "I think it's time I put Trevor to bed though." She said as she stood up.

"Come on mom, let me stay up! Please?" Trevor begged.

Nikki shook her head, "Maybe tomorrow. Come on." She said, motioning him to get up, and they headed upstairs to their room.

"I think Jackson and I are going to turn in too." Alyssa said.

"Do you need help with the dishes?" Carlos asked.

"Nah." Jackson waved off. "Go ahead and put your little one to bed."

"Goodnight Alyssa, goodnight Jackson." Sarah said and stood up. "Thank you for dinner."

"Goodnight honey." Alyssa replied.

"Come on daddy." Sarah said and grabbed her father's hand and led him upstairs to the room that they were going to stay in. "I'm really tired." She said once they entered the room. Carlos shut the door behind him and went to go lay down with Sarah. He had a feeling that she was going to have some questions for him, and Carlos wasn't sure how he was going to answer them. He would try his best though, and hopefully that would be enough for Sarah.

"I'm tired too. Let's try and get some sleep, okay?" Carlos asked as he smoothed Sarah's hair down, laying beside her.

"Daddy?" Sarah asked.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Why do we have to stay here with Jackson and Alyssa? I like them, and they're nice, but why can't we go home?" She asked as she looked up at her father with those doe eyes that belonged to her mother.

"It's not safe at home." Carlos explained to her. "There are bad people there."

"But there's no bad people here?" She asked.

"It's safe here." Carlos confirmed.

"Oh." Sarah said and remained silent for a moment. "Dad?" She asked again.

"Yeah?"

"I miss mom." She said with a sigh.

"Me too Sarah." Carlos replied.

"I bet she misses us too." The girl said with a yawn. "Goodnight dad." Sarah said and turned over.

"Goodnight honey."


	11. Restless

Carlos knew he wasn't going to get much sleep that night. Albeit, he was tired, he just had too much stuff on his mind; too many thoughts to sort through. He was beginning to get a headache by how much he was over thinking things. Sarah's snores caught his attention though, and he was thankful that his little girl was able to finally fall asleep. After all, she probably had a lot on her mind too. He really couldn't even believe that she was still acting like her normal self after all the stuff they had been through already. Maybe he should have cut his daughter a little slack... But still, he didn't want her knowing about all the dangers in this horrible world.

Carlos then got up quietly, careful not to disturb Sarah after she had fallen asleep so soon. He wanted her to get as much sleep as possible, because tomorrow was probably going to be a rather long day. They needed to rest up while they had the time, and while they had a nice warm bed to sleep in. He was thankful that they didn't have to sleep in the car again tonight. That was the problem with Carlos though; he was always restless, and more so now that all of this chaotic mess happened. He knew that until this was over, he may never have another good night's sleep ever again. Hell, even if it was over, the nightmares from this hectic tragedy still might haunt him forever.

Deciding he needed to get some fresh air, Carlos left the room very quietly so he wouldn't wake Sarah up. Hopefully she wouldn't wake up and wonder where he was. She'd be so scared if she were ever in that situation. But he didn't want to wake up anyone else in the house either for that matter, so he tip toed outside of the tiny house to sit on the front porch to get some air. Maybe he could sort his thoughts if he was alone. However, much to his surprise, when he stepped out of the house and onto the porch, Nikki was standing out there as well, leaning against one of the railings.

"Can't sleep?" Carlos asked quietly, his hispanic accent shining through just a little bit.

Nikki shook her head, "You?" She asked in return.

"Not since all of this started." Carlos replied.

"It would be about the same for me." Nikki said.

"It's probably about the same for everyone." Carlos answered with a sigh and leaned against the railing of the front porch. It was nice to have this house so secluded in the woods like this. There were none of those things around, or walkers, or whatever the hell they were... And it was nice if you needed to clear your head. That especially applied to Carlos right now, because he couldn't get his wife out of his head. If only he hadn't been so stupid, she might still be here with him and Sarah at this very moment, and they could have all been safe together.

"Your girl go to sleep?" Nikki questioned, pulling the man out of his thoughts.

"Yeah." Carlos nodded, "She was exhausted."

"So was Trevor." She replied nonchalantly. "I'm just glad he actually feels safe now, and that we're around people we trust. We don't have to worry about being attacked by those things." She trailed off, looking over at Carlos. "He can go to sleep and not have to worry about all that stuff."

"You trust me?" Carlos asked, raising a thick eyebrow. After all, these two had only met.

"A bad man couldn't raise a girl like Sarah, she's too soft hearted." Nikki answered.

Carlos chuckled, "And that would be my fault. I spoil her like crazy."

"Trevor's always been a momma's boy too, you know, with not having a father in his life." She replied. Carlos nodded to let her know that he was listening to what she had to say, but after that, it was silent between the two adults. The only sound was the occasional chirp of a cricket or two. In that moment though, Carlos decided that Nikki was an okay person, and he didn't mind if Sarah was around her. After all, the two were somewhat in the same situation with raising their kids and whatnot, so he decided that this wasn't bad at all.

He then cleared his throat, "So how long do you think all of this is going to go on?" Carlos asked. "I'm not even really sure what to call it... Apocalypse?" He chuckled, "But that just sounds silly."

Nikki shrugged, "Who knows?" She sighed. "You think the military or government would have done something about this shit already... I mean, it's been a week. What else is going to happen?"

Suddenly, the two adult's conversation was interrupted when Carlos heard a voice. "Daddy?" It was Sarah, and she was probably looking for him. "Where are you daddy?" She said again. Her voice sounded a little whimperish, so Carlos hoped that she wasn't crying or anything like that.

"I'm right here Sarah." Carlos said as he headed back into the house. "What's the matter?" He asked as he bent down to her eye level. She was rubbing her eyes from sleepiness, and they were bloodshot as well, so she was probably in fact crying.

"I had a bad dream and you weren't there when I woke up." She sniffled.

"I'm sorry sweetie." He answered. "I had to get some fresh air. Are you okay?" He comforted her.

"Can you just come back to bed with me?" She asked quietly.

Carlos nodded. "Yeah, let's go." He then picked his daughter up and carried her back to their bedroom that they were staying in. He laid Sarah back down in the big bed, and then laid down beside her. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? So you just go ahead and go back to sleep."

"I love you daddy." Sarah said and wrapped her arms around her father.

"I love you too Sarah." Carlos replied.


	12. Lights Out

A few days had quietly went by, and things remained the same in the small house. Nothing had changed in the apocalyptic land, and those things, Carlos referred to them as walkers or lurkers, they still roamed around the as the undead. But in the little house that they all stayed in, Carlos, Sarah, Nikki, Trevor, Alyssa, and Jackson were all safe from the dangers of the outside world. And even though Sarah had already witness what had happened to Gerald and Shirley, he wanted to make sure that she never had to see another walker ever again.

Thankfully, Jackson and Alyssa had plenty of supplies so the group could survive without going on supply runs or anything like that. They had plenty of food, water, clothes, and all of the other necessities that could be useful in a situation like this. Jackson and Alyssa had also left the house everyday to go find other people who could use help, but they always came back empty handed. Everyone was either turned into a walker, or dead already. It was hopeless to have hope, if that made sense. But that was the way that Carlos was feeling right about now. How many people were still alive?

Sarah still had questions about everything too, but that was to be expected. She was probably so confused about what was going on with the world right now, confused as to why the dead were walking, and confused as to why they had to take shelter with random strangers that they met on the side of the road. But Carlos didn't want to tell her the truth, for he feared the reaction she might have. To know that her own mother had turned into one of those things... He couldn't bear to live with himself. He felt as though she was too soft, too kind, and that she would absolutely cease to function if she knew about the troublesome things going on at the moment.

"How long do we have to stay here?" She would ask her father as they sat and watched some random movie.

"Until we are safe." Carlos would answer.

"Why can't we go outside?" That was another one of her many questions, and it killed Carlos because he knew that Sarah absolutely loved the outdoors. She enjoyed going outside and looking at nature, at all of the pretty things. It was something that easily distracted her. But now the outdoors was an ugly place to go for solace. You had to worry about if you were going to get eaten by a walker, or shot by another survivor. So Carlos didn't let Sarah go outside. She was always wanting to know more, her mind was always so curious as to what was going on outside, but her father would never tell.

"There are bad people out there." He would tell her, making her pout and frown for a few moments. He didn't know how long these little petty lie answers would hold out for. Sarah was a smart girl, and sooner or later she would put two and two together and really figure out what was going on. And when that time came, Carlos had no idea what in the world he was going to do about it.

One night while they were waiting for Jackson to finish cooking dinner, Carlos, Sarah, Nikki, and Trevor were sitting at the living room sofa, watching another random DVD for the umpteenth time. It seemed now that this so called apocalypse had happened, there was never anything to do to keep yourself occupied or busy. You just sat around waiting, sat around doing nothing. And what were they even waiting for? Until the government got their shit together and finally did something about this mess? Or were they waiting to die? Maybe that was their fate all along, but Carlos wouldn't settle to believe that. He believed that if he tried hard enough, he and Sarah would be able to stay safe, and that they would make it out of this alive.

Suddenly, the lights flickered, pulling Carlos out of his thoughts, and startling the rest of the group as well. "Dad?" Sarah questioned. "What's happening?" She asked. Finally, they flickered again, and then shut off, leaving the group in pure darkness. Sarah let out a shriek, "Dad, what's going on?" It was apparent that she was very afraid of the dark.

"Mom, why did the lights go out?" Trevor asked, clinging to his mother. Maybe he was scared of the dark too.

"Is everyone okay?" Alyssa asked as she made her way into the living room with a small lit candle. "Don't worry, we got more candles." She said as she sat the one she was holding on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"What happened to the lights?" Sarah asked Alyssa.

"It's probably just a shortage." She replied.

That's when Jackson entered the living room as well, prepared to give bad news. "Well, I looked at the fuse box, and I'm afraid that this ain't just a little shortage. I think the power's out for good." He said with a sigh. "Maybe this shit is getting worse than we thought."

"I hope not." Alyssa chimed in. "I thought that this would all blow over in a few days."

"Me too." Carlos said.

"No power?" Nikki asked.

"Does that mean we can't watch movies anymore?" Trevor whined.

"What's getting worse?" Sarah asked, looking around at all the adults who were talking. Those were the only words she was focused on at the moment. Her breathing was beginning to pick up, and she wasn't so sure about staying in this house anymore. She was unbearably confused at the moment. What was happening? Were they going to be okay? She didn't want to stay in the dark all the time. She hated being in the dark. She even had to have a night light when she went to bed.

"Everything's fine honey." Carlos reassured his daughter.

"Are you sure?" She asked, trying to catch her breaths.

"I would never let anything happen to you Sarah." Carlos told her, patting her head for comfort, and she nodded in reply. She still wasn't too sure about all of this though, and for this first time since whatever this was started, she actually felt scared.

"I'll go get some candles so we can eat dinner." Alyssa said as she headed up the stairs in darkness. Little did the group know though, that from here on out, things would only continue to get worse.


	13. Supplies

Months went by, yet no change had come. The dead were still roaming the earth, and the government, or military had yet to do anything about this damn situation. So the group still waited, their patience growing thin. What would become of them? Surely they couldn't stay in this small house forever. They had no power, and supplies were running lower and lower everyday. There was no way they could all survive for much longer. The world was in ruins, and here they were, some little group of survivors just trying to make it along.

Jackson and Alyssa may have been well stocked on everything in the beginning of all of this, but six people all living in the same house used up quite a bit of food and supplies. Carlos knew the inevitable was going to happen soon. They were going to have to go on a supply run, and that was something he'd been dreading since the beginning. He knew he'd have to leave Sarah alone while he and Jackson took the car into the nearest city to salvage whatever the hell they could find, if anything. Everything probably would have been already picked through, so they'd have a hard time searching while the women and children stayed behind.

Carlos didn't want to do it, but it was a thing that absolutely couldn't be avoided. They needed supplies to live, it was an essential element of survival these days. And if they didn't get food, then the tension in this tiny house would double from what it was now, and Carlos didn't want anyone snapping on him or his daughter over some food. He didn't want anyone to argue for that matter.

He had to keep reminding himself that he was doing this for Sarah, he was doing it to keep them safe; to keep them alive and healthy. And he knew he would do anything in this awful world for Sarah if she asked him to. She was his pride and joy, and he loved her to bits and pieces. She was the only thing that he had left in this fucked up world, and Carlos would be damned if someone or something tried to take that away from him. He would kill before he let anyone get to his precious daughter.

"Sarah, you have to listen to me." He bent down and grasped her shoulders so that they were making eye contact. She nodded to let her father know that she understood what he was saying. Today was the day that he and Jackson were going to go look for supplies. They were going to take the car and leave, and hopefully they wouldn't be gone that long, but Carlos knew that he didn't have the kind of luck to wish for that. "I'm leaving-" That was the only words he could get out before Sarah started to panic just slightly, her breaths coming out in pants.

"Where are you going?" She asked, her breathing picking up.

"I'll be right back." Carlos began to say, calming her down a bit, and rubbing her shoulders lightly. He noticed that there were tears welling in her dark doe eyes. "Jackson and I are taking the car into the city, we need food and supplies." He explained hoping that she would understand. He hated doing this to her. "We need them because we're almost out." He added, hoping she wouldn't ask any questions.

"Can't I come with you?" She asked, a tear or two spilling out of her dark eyes. Carlos sighed, he hadn't meant to make her cry, but he knew that that reaction out of her would be inevitable. Sarah would have cried either way. But still, nonetheless, he hated making his daughter cry, or even making her remotely upset for that matter.

"I'm afraid not sweetie." Carlos answered. "You have to stay here, where it's safe. With Nikki, Alyssa, and Trevor." He added with a shake of his head.

"I don't want to!" Sarah nearly screamed. "What if something happens to you?" She asked. "Then I'll be all alone..."

Carlos smiled a small smile, "I promise you Sarah, nothing is going to happen to me."

"Pinky swear?" She asked, a smile forming on her lips as well.

"Pinky swear." Carlos confirmed as he intertwined his much larger pinky with his daughter's. Internally though, he knew this was a bad idea. He was promising Sarah something that he couldn't guarantee. After all, he didn't know how dangerous it was in the city. He hadn't been back since he and Sarah left in the first place. He could get bit, he could die, but he wouldn't let Sarah know that.

"I love you dad." She said, hugging him.

"I love you too Sarah." Carlos replied.

That's when Jackson approached the two, "You ready Carlos?" He asked.

Carlos stood up, "Yeah, let's go." The two men then headed to the front door where Nikki and Alyssa were seeing them off. "Please, look after my daughter." Carlos begged as he looked the two girls in the eye. "If something happened to her, I would never forgive myself."

"Don't worry Carlos." Alyssa assured. "She's in good hands."

"I'll make sure she goes to bed on time." Nikki chimed in with a small smile.

Carlos smiled in a thankful manner, "I can't help but to worry, you know how she is." He replied. "But thank you guys for looking after her."

"It's nothing." Alyssa waved off. "Now y'all be safe."

"Alright, well we're off!" Jackson announced. "See y'all in a few days!" Carlos sighed as they went to get in his car. They had a lot of gas, so they wouldn't have to worry about that, but still, Carlos had a bad feeling in his gut. And he knew that this little supply run of his and Jackson's wasn't going to end well. Something bad was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon.


	14. Back To The City

Carlos let out a sigh as Jackson started the car. He knew that this long trip into the city was going to take everything out of him; all of his energy, all of his mental state, just everything. It was going to be dangerous too, and he was going to be worried about Sarah the whole time. That was another reason why he didn't want to leave his teen daughter here with Alyssa and Nikki. He didn't want to be worried about her, and he didn't want her to worry about him. But nonetheless, he had to do it, and like he said before, he would do literally anything in the world for his daughter.

"You okay man?" Jackson asked, taking his eyes off the road for a second to look over at Carlos. The hispanic man shook his head though. He didn't really know how to answer that question. No, he wasn't okay, but he didn't want Jackson to know that either. Carlos wanted to come off as a strong individual, not someone who was weak or scared.

"Just worried about my daughter." He finally answered after a moment of silence.

"Don't worry." Jackson said, giving Carlos a pat on the shoulder. "She'll be okay. We'll be back before you know it. It only takes us about a day to get into the city." He answered. "She's in good hands." He finished as he continued to drive. They were finally out of the thick woods, and on the road to the city.

"Yeah, I know. I trust Nikki and Alyssa, they're good people." He answered in reply. "It's just after my wife died, Sarah is all I have left. I don't want anything to happen to her... And if it did, well, then I'd have nothing left to live for." Carlos said a little cynically, but it was true. Sarah was his world now, especially now in all of this apocalypse crap.

"That's heavy man." Jackson commented. "But I understand."

It was silent while they drove now, the two deciding that conversation wasn't the best thing right now. "Sarah has a kids bop CD if you want to listen to music." Carlos said with a small chuckle.

Jackson laughed, "No thank you."

Carlos let his thoughts consume him as he looked out the window of his car. Nothing but fields passed by, and he remembered not too long ago, it was him and Sarah driving and sleeping in this car. The man wondered what he would see once he got to the city. Would it be worse? Would there be more of those walkers? Would there even be any supplies left for he and Jackson? Or would they come back empty handed? Carlos didn't want that. He didn't want to be on this trip for no reason. He had to bring something back to Sarah. "This is the way Sarah and I took." Carlos said, noticing the path and road.

"We're close." Jackson said with a nod. "Only about three more hours I'd say."

"Good." Carlos answered. He wanted to get back to Sarah as soon as possible.

The sun was just starting to set when Alyssa and Nikki had gotten dinner done back at the house. "Sarah, it's dinner time!" Alyssa called out to the teen girl in the living room. She was perched at the window that looked out to the front of the house, and she hadn't left that spot since Carlos and Jackson left earlier today. She was worried about her dad, and even worried about Jackson a little bit. She did not want them to get hurt. She wanted them to come back safe, with lots of food and supplies so that they would all be safe.

Alyssa approached Sarah and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up. "I'm waiting for my dad to come back." Sarah said, and then continued to look out the window.

"He won't be back until morning honey." Alyssa tried to explain.

"I want to be here when he comes back." Sarah said. "That way he knows that I waited for him the whole time he was gone."

"But you have to eat." Alyssa replied with a smile. "Your dad wouldn't want you to go hungry, would he?"

Sarah sighed, "Can I eat at the window? Please?" She asked in her little child like voice.

"Alright." Alyssa answered. "I'll bring you your plate." They didn't have much for dinner that night because they didn't have much food left. Nikki had managed to heat up a few cans of beans for them all to split, so that they wouldn't be hungry when they went to sleep. Sarah ate at the window, and once she was done eating, she fell asleep at the window waiting for Carlos to return.

"Should we move her upstairs?" Nikki asked, looking over at Alyssa, then back to Sarah who was curled up in the fetal position sleeping soundly.

Alyssa shook her head, "No, she'd be upset when she wakes up."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Nikki said. "Come on Trevor," She called out to her son. "Let's go to bed."

Meanwhile, Carlos and Jackson had finally made it in to the boundaries of the city, and Carlos couldn't believe what he saw. There weren't that many walkers, but there was still more than he had ever seen at once. They were staggering around, looking for human flesh, and he was glad that he didn't bring Sarah. She didn't need to see this. There were collapsed buildings, military vehicles broken down, and the world was falling apart. "Do you believe this?" He asked Jackson.

"If I can see it, I believe it." Jackson answered as he drove slowly on the crowded streets.

"This is crazy..." Carlos said in disbelief.

"I bet that drug store over there is a good place to look for stuff." Jackson pointed off in the distance. "Let's go there first."

"Sounds good." Carlos said with a nod.


	15. Sacrifice

"Are you sure we shouldn't wait until morning?" Carlos asked as he and Jackson pulled up beside the drug store entrance. They wanted to have the car ready just in case things were to go badly. It was very dark, and Carlos was worried about that. The city didn't look too crowded, but you never know, those walker things could come out of nowhere. This supply run had to be done though, nonetheless, they still needed food and things of that nature.

"You want to get back to that girl of yours don't you?" Jackson asked giving Carlos a solemn look. But he was right, Carlos did want to get back to Sarah as soon as possible. He knew she was probably worried, and didn't want to keep her waiting any longer than necessary. "You'll need this, and this." Jackson added as reached into the small bag he brought and he handed Carlos a big flashlight, and a small firearm, but also had some for himself as well.

"Do you really think we'll need those?" Carlos asked, referring to the guns.

Jackson shrugged, "Just in case." He said as he opened up the car door. Carlos cringed, he really didn't want to kill anymore of those things than he needed to. "Let's go." Jackson ordered. "Watch my back." He added as he stepped out of the car. Hopefully nobody was inside the drug store, or else that would end up badly.

"Okay." Carlos obliged and opened up the passenger door to get out of the car. He followed behind Jackson into the drug store, and so far, everything was going according to plan. There were no walkers in sight. Carlos noticed however though, that this drug store looked as though it was previously occupied by someone else, or maybe even a group of people. Whoever it was though, they were long gone by now, and had taken most of the food and supplies with them, and even some medical supplies from the pharmacy that had been broken into.

"Stay quiet." Jackson ordered. "They're attracted to noises."

"It looks all clear." Carlos answered back. "What are we looking for?" He asked as his dark eyes scanned the area quickly. He knew they were looking for food and supplies, but he wanted to know if Jackson was searching for anything specific.

"Anything that will help us." Jackson replied as he turned his flashlight on and began looking the shelves of the drug store up and down. "Let's split up." He said, and he and Carlos made their separate ways throughout the drug store. Carlos was looking thoroughly on the shelves and found a few granola bars and some cans of food. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, and he knew that. He also found some blankets and extra coats which would be good when it started to get cold.

"Find anything?" Carlos asked.

"Some water, and a couple cans of food." Jackson called out. Carlos was glad they were actually able to find a few things. Albeit it wouldn't last long, but it was something to hold them over for now. Suddenly, on accident, Jackson knocked one of the tall shelves over, causing it to make a very loud noise. Inside, Carlos cringed, because he knew that Jackson said the walkers were attracted to loud noise.

"Are you okay?" Carlos questioned, and that's when he began hearing the moans and groans of oncoming walkers.

"Shit!" Jackson yelled. "Grab what you can, we have to get the hell out of here or we'll be trapped!" He was still yelling, which also made Carlos a bit anxious. The man grabbed a few more cans of food and pulled out his firearm, shooting some of the walkers that were in his way. "Head to the car!" Jackson hollered as more walkers began to fill up the drug store.

"I'm not leaving you!" Carlos called out.

"Go!" Jackson ordered.

"No!"

"Take that stuff back to that girl of yours." He said, looking Carlos dead in the eye. "She needs you."

Carlos hesitated for a moment, unsure if they should try and shoot their way out of this, or if he should just take the car and go like Jackson said. Should he let the man sacrifice himself? More walkers were making their way into the building, so the man didn't have much time to contemplate a decision. He looked Jackson in the eyes, and he could tell the younger man was serious about this. "Thank you." Carlos said gratefully, and began making his way to the car.

"Tell Alyssa I love her!" Jackson yelled before he began firing at the many zombies around him. "Fuck you! Fuck you!" He yelled to them, taking down as many as possible. Carlos knew he wouldn't make it out of that though... No one would be able to. He would be dead in a matter of moments. The hispanic man silently thanked Jackson for his sacrifice as he got in the driver's side of the car, because if it wasn't for him, he might not have been able to get back to Sarah with these supplies.

Carlos started the car, and pushed the gas pedal as hard as he could. He needed to get the hell out of here, and quickly. He just hoped that he remembered how to get back to Jackson and Alyssa's house. If he got lost, he'd probably die because of lack of supplies, and Sarah would be scared to death without him. She would absolutely cease to function if something happened to Carlos, after all, he was her world, and she was his. So he drove and drove out of the city, until things began to look familiar. He hoped that he'd be able to find that opening in the forest where the house was. Sarah was probably so worried, and he wanted to get back to his little girl as soon as possible.


	16. The Inevitable Return

It seemed as though Carlos had been driving for days, when in reality, it had only been a few hours. The sun was beginning to come up now, and a new day was beginning. In the passenger seat, where Jackson was supposed to be, a small bag of supplies sat. Carlos still couldn't get the man out of his head, and even though Jackson told him to go without him, Carlos still felt like he could have saved him. He could have done something to get him out of there. What would Alyssa think when Carlos returned without him? Would she be angry? Upset? Or both?

Carlos sighed, life wasn't getting any easier now. The silence in the car was driving him mad, so he turned on Sarah's kids bop CD for some background noise as he drove. The scenery still looked all the same, but he knew he was getting close to the house in the woods that they were all staying in. It wouldn't be long now until he arrived there with the supplies. Why did he feel so shitty then? Is it because he let Jackson give up his life so easily? Or was it just everything going on that was finally causing the hispanic man to break down? Whatever it was, he didn't like the feeling.

When Sarah awoke, the sun was fully up, and she was still in the same spot that she was in when her father left. She knew that today was the day. Today was the day of his return, and her anxiety was growing with each passing minute. What if he didn't come back at all? _Stop that,_ she chided herself. _He will come back._ At least, that was what she was hoping for as she kept her eyes practically glued to that damn window. And hopefully he'd come back with lots of supplies so he wouldn't have to go away again for a long long time.

"Sarah, you're up?" Nikki asked as she came down the stairs, ready to start breakfast.

Sarah nodded, "My dad's coming back today." She informed, almost a matter of fact tone of voice.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Nikki questioned as she was about to head into the kitchen.

"I'm not that hungry." Sarah lied. She would just eat when he dad came back.

"Okay sweetie." Nikki replied and walked into the kitchen. That's when Trevor came bounding down the stairs after his mom, yelling about eating some noodles or something like that. Sarah assumed that Alyssa was still in bed. She'd be happy when Jackson got back, Sarah thought. Then they'd all be okay for a while again. So, she waited and waited and waited for her dad's return. It had to be at least midday, when her anxiety began to grow again. Sarah knew her dad should be here by now, but he wasn't.

"Why isn't he here?" She questioned to Alyssa who was sitting on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Jackson's return as well.

"They might have found more places to stop at..." Alyssa shrugged. Sarah sighed, that wasn't a good enough answer for her. And why was Alyssa being so nonchalant about everything? Shouldn't she be worried about Jackson too? What if he didn't come back either? Suddenly, Sarah heard tires crunching on the ground, and she knew that that could only mean one thing. Her dad was finally back, and her heart flooded with warmth.

"He's here!" She nearly yelled out.

Alyssa chuckled, "I see that." The two then heard only one car door open and close, and that's when they realized something was wrong. Those realizations were only confirmed when just Carlos walked in the door without Jackson. Dead silence filled the small house, as everyone took this in. The look on Carlos' face literally told all. Sarah wanted to run up and hug her dad, but she knew that something was wrong, and it wouldn't be appropriate. "Where's Jackson?" Alyssa asked, her voice sounding more worried than ever.

"Did they make it back?" Nikki asked, walking into the living room and stopping dead in her tracks. "What happened?" She automatically knew something was wrong.

"Where's Jackson?" Alyssa asked again.

For the first time since Carlos had been back, he made eye contact with his daughter and she smiled at him. "Why don't you go upstairs for a moment, Sarah?" He asked, giving her a hug. "Daddy has to talk with the grown ups." She looked confused, and she probably was, but she obliged nonetheless and listened to her dad and headed upstairs where Trevor was playing. After Carlos made sure she was out of hearing range, he spoke. "He didn't make it." He stated the obvious. "He sacrificed himself so that all of us could be safe. And he said that he loves you Alyssa." The words for hard for Carlos to get out, but he knew he had to do it.

"No..." Alyssa whispered, her eyes welling up with tears. "I told him not to do that shit!" She sounded angry, upset, pissed off, and depressed all in one voice tone. Carlos knew that this was the reaction he would get though. He felt guilty again, and he didn't know what to say.

"Alyssa..." Nikki trailed off. "I'm sorry."

"I need to be alone." She spoke with a lump in her throat, not wanting to cry in front of these people. She bounded up the stairs and into her room. Carlos felt ashamed for even coming back here with bad news. He should have saved Jackson. Why didn't he even try?

Sarah came back downstairs, "I missed you daddy." She said, hugging him.

"I missed you too sweetie." He replied, a weak smile on his lips.

"Did you get the supplies?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah." He said. "Yeah, I did."

"Good." Sarah smiled. "Now you don't have to go away again for a while." Carlos was happy to be reunited with his daughter, but he still couldn't shake this uneasy feeling he had in his gut. What would happen to the remainder of the group?


	17. Guilt

Later that night, after dinner had been eaten, Carlos had taken Sarah upstairs to put her to bed. Today had been confusing, stressful, and just overall bad. Alyssa hadn't come out of her room since the bad news had been delivered to her, and she hadn't eaten dinner either. Carlos knew she was grieving, but still, he was worried about the young woman because he knew that she wasn't dealing with Jackson's loss properly. He hoped that she'd be okay even though she was suffering a great tragedy at the moment, but Carlos knew deep down that her being better soon would be highly unlikely.

"Dad?" Sarah asked, pulling the hispanic man out of his thoughts. He couldn't help but to feel bad about everything that had happened today, so it was hard not to think about the day's events.

He was tucking his daughter in to bed, and no doubt it had been a long day for her as well. "Yes sweetie?" He answered her as he pulled the covers up and tucked them around her shoulders. Once she was all settled in, Carlos got in the bed and laid down beside his daughter. She didn't like to sleep alone considering the circumstances these days.

"Why didn't Jackson come back too?" She asked, still confused about everything. Carlos knew she would be confused, but he honestly didn't know how to answer her question. Sarah was just that type of person who couldn't cope with death, she just didn't understand it. So how was he going to tell her about Jackson? "Did he get sick?" She inquired, which implied that she knew somewhat about the zombie virus going around.

Carlos decided that he wasn't going to be able to think of something less harsh, so he went with her words. "Yeah, he was sick." He said, looking down at his daughter. In the back of his mind though, all he felt was guilt, and he felt like an awful man for lying to his daughter so much. But she had to know something, right? Something other than evil... "But he saved me though, when we went to get supplies." There, that was somewhat truthful. Carlos was satisfied with that answer.

"He died, didn't he?" Sarah asked bluntly, causing Carlos to stare wide eyed at her. When did she become so pessimistic about everything. "I heard Alyssa crying. I know he's gone." She continued to say, looking at her father. Carlos sighed, maybe she knew more than he thought.

"People die all the time Sarah." He said gently. "Dying is a part of life."

"I know." She replied quietly. "It just makes me feel sad."

"Me too sweetie. Just try not to think about it." He tried to give his daughter some advice. She nodded, and gave her dad a small smile. "Now, go to sleep, okay? You need lots of rest." Carlos ordered, and she obliged, turning over into the fetal position and closing her eyes.

"Goodnight dad." She said, before drifting off. Carlos knew he wasn't getting any sleep at all tonight. There was way too much stuff on his already cluttered mind. Now he just had more to add to the list of things that kept going wrong. How many losses would they suffice during this so called apocalypse? He laid there for hours, just staring at the ceiling, enticed in his own menacing thoughts. How did he even get here? What went wrong? He laid there contemplating life, until suddenly, he heard a muffled bang that made him jump. What in the world was that?

Carlos looked over, making sure Sarah hadn't stirred from the noise, then got up to go investigate. He left his and Sarah's room quietly, and followed to where the noise came from. It led him to Alyssa and Jackson's room, so he knocked on the door before entering. When he received no answer, he took that as his cue to go in. What he saw though, would be forever etched into his mind. There was blood, blood everywhere; splattered all over the walls, the floor... And it all led to Alyssa's body. Carlos had to put the pieces together as he saw a small pistol and pillow laying in the floor, and he knew that Alyssa had shot herself through the pillow so the noise wouldn't be that loud. The sight of it all was revolting, and Carlos felt as if he was going to retch at any given moment now. He knew that this was his fault.

If he wouldn't have left Jackson, then both he and Alyssa would still be alive. Alyssa wouldn't have committed suicide because she lost her significant other. And he knew that Jackson wouldn't have wanted Alyssa to do this. He would have wanted her to fight; fight and survive for his sake. Carlos felt as low as he's felt in a long time, and he felt incredibly guilty. It seemed as if he just kept messing things up for him and Sarah. She would wake up tomorrow and asked what happened to Alyssa, and he wouldn't even have an answer for her.

"What was that noise?" Nikki asked as she approached him from behind, tearing him out of his thoughts.

"Don't look." He warned her, but it was too late, and she gasped in horror at what she saw.

"Alyssa!" She gasped. "What happened?"

"She shot herself." He answered. "This is my fault..." Carlos mumbled. "I should have saved Jackson."

"You can't blame yourself." Nikki tried to console, but Carlos wouldn't listen. "Everything happens for a reason."

"Two good people are dead because of me." Carlos looked at her with intense eyes. "I fucked up." Nikki stayed silent, unable to give him a proper response. "I shouldn't stay here anymore... I can't stay here anymore..." He trailed off... Because he knew if he did, all of this guilt would eat him alive. He would drive himself crazy, worrying about everything. "When morning comes, Sarah and I are leaving." Carlos said determinedly.

"Where are you going to go?" Nikki asked.

"Anywhere but here." He answered solemnly. "I have to keep Sarah safe."

"What will she think?" Nikki questioned. "She's just a little girl."

"I will tell her what I have to, but tomorrow, we are leaving."


	18. Fourteen Months Later

It had been a year and two months since Carlos and Sarah had left Jackson and Alyssa's home. With the two being dead, Carlos knew that leaving that place had been the best decision. He wouldn't have been able to take the guilt if he had stayed there, because he knew that their deaths were his fault. Nikki and Trevor had voted to stay behind at the small house, deciding that they would be safer at the house, than coming out on the road. Carlos respected her choice, and the two families made their separate ways. He and Sarah left the very next day, just like he said they would, and of course, Sarah was highly confused. Carlos merely told her that they would be safer, knowing that it was a lie. So, he took his car, and they drove until it was out of gas.

Sarah was almost fourteen years old, and her birthday was coming up soon. No doubt the girl was getting smarter with each passing day. It wouldn't be long before she really figured out what was going on with the world. But until that day came, Carlos would try to keep her as sheltered as possible. He knew that doing so would be a difficult task though. Eventually, she would figure out the truth, or she would somehow pull the truth out of Carlos.

When they first left, she had kept asking where they were going, and he didn't have a specific answer for her. Carlos could tell that that worried his daughter quite a bit. And when their car ran out of gas, and they had to walk, that opened up a whole other book of questions that she could ask. After that, now here they were, stranded with little supplies, sleeping outside and in the middle of nowhere. Carlos had no idea where they were, and he had no idea where they were going. Hope was rare, and they had encountered so many of those walker things, Carlos didn't want to see another one again ever in his life. And it was hard to keep them hidden from Sarah, especially when she was always so curious.

Currently, they were in the middle of some forest, surrounded by giant trees, and Carlos was attempting to make a fire. It had began getting chilly at nighttime. Sarah sat close to her dad, shivering in a dirty blanket that they had found. Carlos sighed as he attempted to light up the fire with the old matches he found. Despite all the time that had passed, he would never get used to living like this; in the wilderness, fighting for survival, always searching for food. Carlos' mind had always been stuck on before mode. Before all this apocalypse bullshit ever even happened. He liked to imagine that he was back at his home in the suburbs, with Robin cooking all his favorite meals, and Sarah playing and reading books like she always used to. These days, he rarely ever saw he smile, and he hated himself for it, even though it wasn't all his fault.

Finally, the wood caught and the fire blazed to life. "Come sit by the fire sweetie." Carlos said, and Sarah obliged because she was so cold. He wrapped one arm around her, and had the other one ready to grab his gun just in case something were to pop up. It was sad that they had to live like this now.

"Why can't we just go home dad?" This was a question that Sarah asked often, and Carlos would give her the exact same answer every time.

"It's not safe there anymore." He answered her.

"But it's not safe here either." She retorted, and Carlos sighed. She was right. Being out here in the middle of nowhere wasn't exactly an ideal place to sleep.

"I'm going to find us somewhere safe to stay." Carlos told her. "So don't worry about it." A yawn then escaped her full lips, and her eyelids where beginning to grow heavy. Carlos knew she was getting tired, and would be asleep in the next twenty minutes or so. Luckily, they found some sleeping bags a while back, so they didn't have to sleep on the cold ground. Carlos sometimes didn't sleep at all, because he had to stay awake and keep watch, making sure nothing would come at them at night. There was nothing but chaos left in this world, and he refused to think otherwise.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." Sarah said as she started to roll her sleeping bag out next to the fire.

"Okay sweetie." Carlos nodded.

"Can you tuck me in?" She asked sweetly.

Carlos chuckled, "Of course." She got into her sleeping bag, and Carlos covered her up gently, then kissed her forehead. "Goodnight Sarah." He told her as he patted her head. In his mind, he still couldn't get over how important Sarah was to him, and he had a feeling that those feelings would never ever change.

"Night daddy." She smiled and turned over, ready to fall asleep.

Carlos stayed up, staring into the fire. What was he going to do? He had no plan with Sarah, he didn't know where to take her, they were running out of supplies everyday, so what else was he to do? Everything was going to shit, and he didn't know how to stop it. If Robin were here right now... If his unborn son were here right now, things wouldn't be looking so dark. But they were gone now, and he needed to get himself together so that he and Sarah would be safer.

Hours passed, and he sat, staring into the small fire, until suddenly a shadowy figure approached in the darkness. Carlos' brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to make out who the person was. It wasn't a walker, that was for sure, because they were armed with a gun. Carlos picked up his gun as well, and aimed it at the person. "Who are you?" He called out, which woke up Sarah.

"Dad?" She questioned. "Is someone there?"

"Show yourself!" Carlos ordered, while Sarah's breaths picked up. He waited a few moments until finally an african american woman emerged from the shadows. "Who are you?" Carlos questioned, keeping his gun aimed.

"Hey, don't shoot!" The female nearly yelled as she was standing literally two feet in front of Carlos and Sarah, who was still wrapped up in her sleeping bag. "I'm here to help you, and your daughter." The woman continued as she put her gun down. "Really, I mean no harm."

"Do you know how many people have said that to us?" Carlos nearly spat.

"Dad, I'm scared." Sarah whimpered.

"Everything's fine sweetie." He tried to soothe, but it was obvious it didn't work. "Who are you?" He repeated to the woman again.

"My name is Tavia." The woman said. "And I work for a safe camp."


	19. Howe's Hardware

"A safe camp?" Carlos questioned, he had never heard of one of those since the apocalypse started. He looked at the woman, Tavia, skeptically. How was he just going to up and go trust a complete stranger; one that he just met two minutes ago if he wanted to be frank. "Like with food, water..."

"People, other survivors." Tavia finished his sentence.

"You're lying." Carlos said, narrowing his eyes at the woman.

"Fine, believe what you want." She started. "But we've got food, shelter, warm beds, other survivors... A school for your daughter." Tavia gestured to Sarah who was still wrapped up in her sleeping bag. He big doe orbs were wide with fear, but they brightened a little bit when she heard Tavia say all the things that the camp have. "I'm the recruiter." Tavia explained. "I come out to look for other survivors who might need help." She shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal.

"A camp?" Carlos asked incredulously. It seemed as though his thoughts had just been answered. This was the safe place to take Sarah that he was looking for all along. They could eat, and sleep well, and finally be safe and happy. But, a part of him still didn't trust this Tavia character. "Can you prove it to me?" He asked, crossing his arms. He'd learned his lesson about trusting people all willy nilly like that.

Tavia then pulled out a walkie-talkie, "Bill, you there?" She asked, talking into the small radio device. Carlos watched with his eyebrows knitted together. Who was Bill?

"I'm here Tavia." A gruff voice answered on the talkie.

"I'm recruiting two new people. A man and his daughter." Tavia explained to him, and the walkie-talkie buzzed.

"Good work." Bill responded. "See you when you get back."

"Who's Bill?" Carlos asked, unimpressed.

"He's sort of our leader." Tavia explained. "Look, this is the real deal, and all I'm trying to do is help you people. If you don't want help, fine. Go back to sleeping on the ground and having nothing to eat." She said to them, crossing her arms for emphasis. Carlos listened to her every word though, and he could kind of tell that she wasn't lying about this kind of thing. After all, who would? Who would lie about food, supplies, and survivors? But then Carlos caught himself, this was the apocalypse, and people were losing their minds. "So, are you going to stay or go?" Tavia asked.

Carlos sighted, "Let me speak to my daughter." He turned around to where Sarah was in her sleeping bag. "Sarah?" He questioned. "Would you like to go to the safe camp?" He asked her, because he knew that her decision was the most important. "There's food, other people, you can go to school." He told her, her eyes lighting up just a bit.

"And it will be safe there?" She asked.

Carlos nodded, "Of course sweetie."

"Okay." Sarah said. "Let's go." They packed up all their belongings, and followed Tavia to wherever she was walking. Carlos was surprised when they made it out of the woods only to reveal that she had taken a car to recruit people. "We're driving?" Sarah asked as she climbed into the back seat.

"The camp's about a day away." Tavia answered, and put the keys in the ignition to start the car. They drove in mostly silence, and Carlos slept the majority of the time they were in the car. He was exhausted though, and he used this time to his advantage. He hadn't been sleeping much lately, so this was practically a blessing. He woke up from time to time though to check on Sarah, and she seemed to be doing fine. Carlos was worried about her well being, and the shock from the apocalypse, but she was pulling through quite well.

When they finally arrived, Carlos had no idea where they were at. He watched out the window as Tavia pulled her small car into a place called Howe's Hardware. It looked like a giant retail store, so no wonder they had so much food and supplies. "Wow..." Sarah barely managed to get out as she eyed the place. It had a fence around it, so no walkers could get in, and it seemed safe and secure.

Tavia parked the car in the loading garage and helped Carlos and Sarah out. "Bill will want to speak with you. Follow me." Carlos and Sarah obliged with Sarah holding Carlos' hand of course. They followed Tavia through the big store and you could tell very much so that someone had turned this big place into a camp. There were beds everywhere, people everywhere, and lots of food stocked up on shelves. They followed Tavia up some stairs, and into a small office. "Here they are Bill."

"Thank you Tavia." Bill replied and dismissed her. Carlos was surprised at his appearance. He looked like an older man, early forties at least, with his gray hair and scruffy voice. "Nice to meet you, I'm William Carver, but everyone calls me Bill." He said, extending his hand for Carlos to shake.

"Carlos." He replied, shaking Bill's hand. "And this is my daughter Sarah."

"Nice to meet you too honey." Bill shook Sarah's hand as well. "Welcome to your new home."

"Thank you for taking us in." Carlos said with a small smile. Sarah didn't say much, but that's because Carlos knew that she was very shy around new people.

Bill waved it off, "It's what we do."

"If there's anything I can do, let me know." Carlos explained. "I was a doctor before all this happened."

"A doctor? That could come in handy." Bill replied with a nod. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping. You can get acquainted with the others, and dinner will be in about an hour." He explained and Carlos and Sarah followed him back downstairs to where all the beds were at when they first entered. Bill led them to two twin size beds that were right beside each other. "Let me know if there's anything you need." Bill said, "I'll leave you two to get settled in now." He then left to attend to what ever other duties he had.

"Well?" Carlos asked Sarah. "What do you think?"

"I like it here." She answered, but her cheeks flushed when she saw a group of people walking over to them. No doubt they were other survivors here, Sarah just didn't like meeting new people.


	20. The Camp

Sarah grabbed onto her dad's shirt as she saw the group of strangers approaching them. The teen girl almost ducked behind her father a bit. She was always apprehensive about meeting new people. Carlos grabbed his daughter's hand and squeezed it tight for reassurance. He was here by her side no matter what happened. Besides, these people looked friendly enough, they probably just wanted to introduce themselves to Sarah and Carlos. There were about six people coming towards them, and Sarah was trying to prepare herself.

A balding man wearing a green shirt approached first, extending his hand. "You all new to the camp?" He asked Carlos. "I haven't seen you anywhere around here."

The hispanic man nodded, "We just got here a little bit ago. Came out of the city when all of this started."

"The name's Pete." The balding man said as he shook Carlos' hand. "It's nice to meet you, we usually don't get too many new people around here too often."

"Carlos." Carlos answered, telling Pete his name. "And this is my daughter Sarah." Sarah gave a small friendly wave as she looked at all the people around her. There were quite a lot, so she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. "She's a little shy." Carlos added with a small smile. "Why don't you say hi, honey?" He asked.

"Hello." Sarah said shyly, her cheeks turning a pink color.

"It's fine." Pete smiled in return. Soon, they heard a woman clear her throat rather loudly, and Pete chuckled, "Oh yeah, and this is my sister Jenny." He said gesturing to a woman standing behind him. She had dark hair and dark eyes, and was quite pretty for an older woman.

"It's nice to meet you Carlos and Sarah." She said with a grin, her voice laced with a thick southern accent. "This is my son Nick." She said and gestured to a young man that was standing beside her. "He can be a bit of an ass sometimes, I think he gets that from me." She laughed while Nick just sort of scowled and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He fumbled with his hat and blushed slightly, wishing he would disappear.

"Hi Nick." Sarah said shyly.

"Hi." He replied in return, still embarrassed from what his mother said.

"And I'm Luke." Another man introduced himself, and Sarah was afraid that she wasn't going to be able to remember all these nice people's names. "I'm Nick's best friend." He smiled, like he was taking pride in the fact that he was somebody's best friend. Carlos thought that Luke looked the youngest out of everyone here that was here introducing themselves. He was wearing a brown long sleeved shirt, and had light brown slightly curly hair.

"It's nice to meet you all." Carlos said with a small nod. In his mind, these were very friendly people, he just hoped that befriending and trusting all these people wouldn't come back and bite him in the butt in the future. He and Sarah had been through way too many close calls to take another risk. So Carlos hoped and prayed that these people would be good for them, that this camp would be good for them.

"Look, if there's anything y'all need just let me know, okay?" Luke said. "I'm sort of second in command here next to Bill." He said with a shrug. "I want to make sure everyone is comfortable."

"Thank you." Carlos said with a nod.

"What's your name?" Sarah asked the dark pregnant lady who was standing beside another man who was wearing glasses. Sarah was drawn to her because of her pregnant belly. The woman looked as though she was caught off guard, but she still smiled at Sarah nonetheless.

"I'm Rebecca." She answered and approached Sarah, "And that's my husband Alvin."

"You have a baby right?" Sarah asked, pointing to Rebecca's small but noticeable pregnant stomach.

Rebecca nodded, "Yeah, but he or she won't be here for a while."

"My mom used to have a baby too before she got sick." Sarah eyes shone a flicker of sadness, as did Carlos', but Rebecca just nodded in understanding before patting Sarah on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that sweetie." She said.

"Looks like we'll all be staying here with each other for a while, huh?" Alvin pointed out.

Carlos nodded, "Looks that way. How long have you guys been here anyway?" He asked.

Pete shrugged, "We've been here for quite some time actually."

"You start to lose track of the days after a while." Jenny pointed out.

Carlos chuckled, "I know that feeling."

"When is dinner?" Sarah asked as innocently as she could muster up. "I'm starving!"

Luke laughed, "Don't worry Sarah, it should be about that time. We're all hungry."

"Be patient sweetie." Carlos gently chided.

"Sorry dad." She said sheepishly. Suddenly, the dinner bell rung, and the big group went and found a big enough table for them all to sit at. Sarah decided that it was okay to be friends with these people. They were nice enough, and she really liked Rebecca and Nick, and she was excited for Rebecca's baby even though the two girls had just met. Dinner was amazing too. It was nice to have finally eaten a hot meal to soothe the ever growing hunger. Carlos was glad too, and he was glad that he and Sarah would have a safe place to stay at least for a little while. And later, when it was time to go to sleep, Sarah was so happy that she and her dad had a nice warm bed to sleep in. She could finally get a night of good rest, and tomorrow when she woke up, she'd be able to go to school, and read books, and color! Sarah actually really liked this place, and if Sarah liked it, then Carlos loved it.


	21. Changes

Time practically flew by once Carlos and Sarah arrived at Howe's Hardware. Sarah was just about to turn fifteen in a few months, and Carlos really couldn't believe that his little girl, his little baby Sarah, was finally growing up into a young woman. Albeit, she still acted childish at times, but he knew that she would always be like that. It was just in her nature to be that way. And Carlos also couldn't believe that they had already stayed at the camp for this long without anything bad happening. He hadn't said that out loud though, because he didn't want to jinx it. He knew it would only be a matter of time before something would mess up.

They had plenty of food, water, and supplies though, so he didn't have to worry about that. Sarah was going to school, and learning lots of different things, and she was actually happy. Carlos was just glad to finally see a genuine smile on her pretty face again. She had spent so many months unhappy because of this apocalypse, and he was just so glad that she was able to finally act like a kid again. He loved seeing his daughter happy, it made him happy.

It was hard adjusting to this new life in the apocalypse, but maybe this was life now. They'd just have to keep living with it. There had been some new recruits to the camp as well. Tavia had gone at again, and came back with some more people. The only one's Carlos were fond of though were Bonnie, Troy, and Reggie. And he really didn't like the Troy guy that much. He told Sarah to stay away from him if she could. But other than that, things were going pretty great.

A few more months passed though, and Rebecca began to grow more pregnant. That was when Carlos started to notice change. Bill wasn't the same Bill anymore. He was changing. It all started when Luke began to try and help out with being in charge. Bill didn't really like that all that much. "New rule!" He announced over that little intercom at Howe's Hardware. "We'll be sleeping outside now, in the yard." It was an area outside with a fence around it, but it wasn't all that safe.

"Dad, why do we have to sleep outside?" Sarah would ask.

"I'm not sure honey." He answered, but he knew something bad was going to happen. Rebecca became more and more tense with each passing day, so Carlos decided to go and talk to her about things. He approached her one night after everyone had gone to bed. "Hey Rebecca?" He asked her.

She had seemed startled, "Oh, it's just you Carlos."

He chuckled, "Do you know what's been going on with Carver?" They had chosen to call him that now instead of Bill.

Her face contorted, and she looked as though she was contemplating a decision. "You can't tell anyone, alright?" She said seriously. "I mean it."

"Okay." Carlos nodded. "I won't tell anyone."

"The baby might be Bill's..." Rebecca whispered, and Carlos was taken aback. "And I told him that Alvin and I wanted to leave the camp, but he wouldn't let us. That's why he's doing all of this. He wants us to stay, and he's becoming dangerous. I even saw him punch Luke the other day." She explained. "This is all my fault, and I'm sorry."

"It's not safe here anymore." Carlos clarified.

"That's why we need to leave." Rebecca replied.

"We should talk to the others about leaving." Carlos suggested. "We'll do it in the morning. The sooner we get out of here, the better chance we have of surviving." After all, he just wanted to keep Sarah safe, and this camp wasn't safe anymore. They'd find a new place to stay, and maybe they could stay with all the friends that they made at this camp. They'd all go somewhere safe, and be happy. That was Carlos' original plan right now, and they needed to act fast.

The next night, after dinner had been eaten, the group decided to have a meeting. Luke, Nick, Pete, Jenny, Rebecca, Alvin, and a few others like Bonnie and Reggie sat around a fire out in the yard. "Okay," Luke started. "So who's all going?" He asked as he paced back and forth. Carlos grabbed Sarah's hand and squeezed it. She was feeling very scared, and she didn't want to leave.

"We all are." Nick answered.

"I can't leave." Bonnie said. "I'm waiting to see if Tavia brings the rest of my friends of family." She said, giving a good reason to stay here.

"I think I'll just hang here too guys." Reggie said. "But I'll help you if you need it."

"Carver's gone crazy though, that's for damn sure." Pete commented. "We should leave as soon as we can."

"Tonight?" Alvin asked. "Where would we go?"

"Any place but here." Nick said. "It's not safe."

"Okay." Luke nodded. "So tonight it is. We'll leave later, once everyone is sleeping." So they had a set plan to escape from Howe's Hardware, and away from Carver. Carlos was about to go tuck Sarah into bed so she could get a little bit of sleep before they tried to escape later, but she pulled on the sleeve of his shirt to ask him a question.

"Daddy? What's happening?" She asked with a confused look on her face.

"We're leaving in a little while." He said simply.

"Why?" She asked.

"It's not safe here anymore. Bill is a bad man." Carlos answered. He then put his daughter to bed, and let her get some sleep for awhile. He knew that tonight could be risky. Carver might try to stop them from leaving, then what? Would they kill him if need be? Carlos hadn't really ever killed a real person before, only walkers, and he didn't feel like he'd be able to kill an actual person unless they were harming himself or his daughter.


	22. Escape

**Author's Note: This fanfic was a lot of fun to write, but sadly, all good things come to an end. This is the last chapter of this fanfiction, so I'll see y'all down at the bottom! Enjoy.**

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Hours later, Carlos was shaking Sarah awake because it was time for them to leave. "Come on honey." He whispered very quietly. Sarah sat up groggily, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. In her mind, she was glad to leave the camp too. She never liked Carver, not even when he was nice. "Do you have all of your stuff?" He asked her, and she nodded. She had made sure all of her things were packed in a book bag long ago. "Alright, let's go." He took her head and led her to the middle of the yard where Luke, Nick, Pete, Jenny, Alvin, Rebecca, Bonnie, and Reggie were gathered around a fire. "We're ready." Carlos said to all of them.

Luke nodded, "Alright y'all. No matter what happens, we stick together, got it?" He asked as he looked around at his fellow comrades. "Reggie and Bonnie are going to help us get out of here, so listen to them. What's the plan?" Luke finally asked as looked over at the two survivors who were leading the escape.

Bonnie stepped forward. She was sort of a guard for the camp, so she knew where all of the exits were, and could get the group out easily. "Reggie is going to distract Troy to give me enough time to get y'all out of here. We have to be quick, clean, and quiet about this. Okay?" She explained. "So you'll just have to follow me."

"You hear that Sarah? You follow Bonnie, okay?" Carlos whispered to his daughter.

"I'm scared dad." She responded, her heartbeat picking up slightly.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." He tried to reassure her. "I'm going to be right here beside you, and I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" He said, and squeezed her small hand. "Don't be scared."

She nodded determinedly. "Okay, I won't be scared."

"Is everyone ready?" Rebecca asked, and she was answered with chimes of the word yes. "Alright Reggie, do your thing." He replied with a nod, and left the yard to go find Troy. Carver didn't have many people on guard at night, and Troy wasn't that smart, so hopefully this would be easy. The group waited until they heard Reggie's voice start talking to Troy, and they knew that was their signal to start moving.

"Okay, let's go." Bonnie whispered, and they began moving in a single line, Carlos holding Sarah's hand the entire time. They had to be super quiet so they wouldn't wake up Carver, or any of the other survivors staying at the camp. "I'm going to take you out the back exit." Bonnie said as she unlocked some doors. "Where the truck parks." She said, "There's less people there." So the group kept making there way until finally they made it to the back door. "Well this is it." Bonnie said as she watched them all go out the door.

"Are you sure you don't want to come, Bonnie?" Nick asked. "Wherever we're going, I'm sure there's room for you." He continued with a shrug.

The redhead shook her head, "I feel like I should stay here."

"You're really sure?" Luke asked.

She nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. Now y'all go on before it's too late."

"Tell Reggie we said thank you." Rebecca said, and the group was on their way.

"Be safe!" Bonnie called out, before heading back inside the camp.

The group walked, and walked, and they finally got into the woods just outside the camp, before they started hearing a moaning and groaning sound. "Did you guys hear that?" Jenny asked as she looked around cautiously. They couldn't really see anything with it being dark out and them having no flashlights. "It sounded like..."

"Walkers!" Rebecca yelled.

Pete immediately pulled out his pistol that he always kept on him, and began shooting. "You all go ahead!" He yelled out, as he shot the walkers.

"We're not leaving you uncle Pete!" Nick said, pulling out a small knife and helping his uncle in killing the zombies. Sarah was horrified, she had never seen so many ugly monsters before in her life. Is this what her dad was talking about when he said that people were sick? She wished she had never seen it at all anymore.

"Dad!" She called out, clutching her father's shirt.

"I'm right here sweetie, don't look!" Carlos replied, as he tried to get his daughter out of there. And now the biggest fear had hit his mind: Now that they were out of Howe's Hardware, where would they go now? They were stuck in the wilderness yet again, but this time with a bigger group. And what would happen in the morning when Carver saw that they were gone? Would he come looking for them? Would he hunt them down?

Once all the walkers were gone, the group stood dumbfounded, unsure of what to do. "Now what?" Alvin asked.

"We walk." Pete answered.

"Walk?" Jenny asked incredulously. "I'm tired!"

"Pete's right though." Rebecca said. "If we don't keep moving, Bill will find us. We have to go."

"Where are we going to go though?" Carlos asked, looking around at his new friends.

"Anywhere but here." Luke said, and with that, the group took off in one direction, and started their search for a new home. It seemed as if they had been walking for a week or so, when they finally stumbled upon some shelter; a single log cabin all alone in the woods.

"Am I seeing shit right now? Or is that really a cabin?" Nick asked.

"Hey, watch your mouth." Jenny chided.

"No, no, I see it too." Alvin said.

"Can we stay there dad?" Sarah asked, eyeing the cabin with delight. She desperately wanted a new home at the moment. She was so tired of sleeping on the ground, and walking all day everyday. She wanted her and her dad to finally be safe all the time, and this cabin was offering comfort and security. Plus, she had made friends with everyone in her group, and she'd love to stay with them too.

"We have to make sure it's safe first sweetie." He told her.

Pete nodded, "Nick? Luke?"

"On it." They both answered and headed into the cabin. The group waited, and a few minutes later, the two young men came back outside. "It's empty." Luke said. "And it's got plenty of supplies."

"That's just what we were looking for." Pete smiled.

"Looks like we found a new home, huh dad?" Sarah asked with a small smile, and Carlos smiled right back at her.

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**Author's Note: Thank you guys for reading this fic. Be sure to check out my author's page and read my other stories. I'm still taking requests too so just send me a PM. Does anybody ship Nuke? Because that's going to be my next walking dead project. Until next time, stay fabulous. P.S. It's my last year in high school so keep in mind I'm usually pretty busy, I try to update as much as possible, but sometimes stuff gets in the way.**


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